ABSTRACT
The recognition of society's obligation to the poor and needy is part of the heritage of the human race, a theme of social responsibility and interdependence that mingles throughout history with darker themes of oppression and violence. With a million and a quarter units still in use, public housing continues to represent an important part of the overall affordable housing inventory in the United States. Market rents, however, represent the better and newer class of building; an 1894 report indicates that more than a third of New York City tenement dwellers paid $2 per month or less. Outside of a few progressive states like New York, and beyond the adoption of building and sanitary regulations, the housing conditions of the poor were not widely seen as a government problem. While Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines are complex, it has complete discretion over how the money is spent.
