Deck 12: Housing, Education, Crime: Confronting Urban Problems

Question 1

The problem of housing is related to the problem of poverty.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Which of the following describes "sweat equity"?

A) Sweat equity is the exploitation of young workers in the inner city.
B) Sweat equity allows individuals with low incomes to invest in a residence.
C) Sweat equity has not been very successful in providing affordable housing.
D) Sweat equity is an emerging form of gentrification in urban environments.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following best characterizes problems with housing?

A) An increase in low-rent housing units.
B) A decrease in high-rent housing units.
C) Changes in the housing market.
D) Changes in what family's want in homes.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Herrnstein and Murray argue that

A) IQ tests are not representative of people's level of intelligence.
B) alienation and relative deprivation explains high crime rates.
C) inner-city residents with low IQ are more likely to commit crimes.
D) inner-city residents are more likely to be victims of social inequalities.

Question 5

Government intervention in housing began

A) with the New Deal.
B) in New York in 1870.
C) with the South Bronx project.
D) to solve the housing shortage that followed World War II.

Question 6

Oscar Newman found that crime rates

A) could be reduced by improving architectural design.
B) are influenced by inner city culture.
C) are somewhat lower in large high-rise housing.
D) cannot be reduced unless poverty is eliminated.

Question 7

Crime rates today are

A) on the rise.
B) highest in cities.
C) not different in cities and suburbs.
D) lower than in 1980.

Question 8

Some school districts offer parents credit that is equal to the state's share of the cost of educating a child. This strategy is referred to as

A) magnet schools.
B) school vouchers.
C) charter schools.
D) busing.

Question 9

are privately operated and with less state regulation, so that teachers and administrators can try out new teaching strategies.

A) School vouchers
B) Busing programs
C) Magnet schools
D) Charter schools

Question 10

Deterioration of buildings in the inner city occurs because

A) nobody wants to live there.
B) their maintenance represents more costs than rental income warrants.
C) they are destroyed by vandals and looters.
D) they are not insured.

Question 11

How is gentrification characterized?

A) It allowed poor people to own their residences.
B) It results from Section 8 programs.
C) It increases the number of low-rent housing units.
D) It describes why rich people move to older areas.

Question 12

Within urban areas, crime is

A) most concentrated in rich neighborhoods.
B) most concentrated in poor neighborhoods.
C) most likely to affect white teenagers.
D) most likely to affect rich individuals.

Question 13

The "New Urbanism" is sometimes criticized for

A) its emphasis on high-rise buildings.
B) the fact that it isolates the poor in specific areas.
C) the lack of attention to aesthetics.
D) the fact that it reduces the number of low-income housing units.

Question 14

The Section 8 Program

A) was established during the New Deal era.
B) provides rent subsidies to low-income tenants.
C) transfers federal resources to local government in order to build public housing.
D) has decreased the stock of low-cost rental housing.

Question 15

Prior to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, most urban schools had a policy of

A) social promotions
B) social reproduction
C) mandatory advancement
D) environmental adaptation

Question 16

offer special programs to attract students from many districts to achieve integration.

A) Charter schools
B) School vouchers
C) Magnet schools
D) Busing programs

Question 17

The federal housing programs of the New Deal had which of the following goals?

A) Directed federal funds to encourage the construction of new housing
B) Guaranteed construction loans to large corporations in India
C) Building of high-income housing through Public Works
D) Seizeure of decaying areas and giving them to developers willing to rehabilitate them

Question 18

Defining housing as "substandard" is somewhat arbitrary.

Question 19

Black-white residential segregation

A) has increased since 1990.
B) explains inter-city variations in the Black murder rate.
C) is practically impossible to measure.
D) does not seem to influence violent crime.

Question 20

Edward Banfield argues that

A) public housing projects have been quite successful in providing people with affordable housing.
B) residents' irresponsible behavior is often to blame for the lack of public housing success.
C) the architecture of public housing creates pathological behavior.
D) poverty itself is the cause of public housing problems.

Question 21

TV shows influence public perception of crime.

Question 22

Ruth Peterson and Lauren Krivo coined the term "hypersegregation."

Question 23

Magnet schools are inexpensive to operate.

Question 24

The New Deal provided loan guarantees to veterans.

Question 25

Gentrification contradicts Burgess's concentric zone model.

Question 26

Violent crimes have decreased dramatically, especially among juveniles.

Question 27

Most people believe crime is on the rise.

Question 28

The new urbanism emphasizes the importance of public spaces.

Question 29

Gentrification offers new yuppie residents greater variety and stimulation.

Question 30

Banfield argues that crime is strongly related to low IQ.

Question 31

Two-thirds of police arrests for serious crimes involve white people.

Question 32

The greatest concentration of criminal offenses occurs in inner-city poor neighborhoods.

Question 33

Homesteading programs have helped to rehabilitate more than 1 million homes.

Question 34

The dominant culture in the United States favors private over public ownership.

Question 35

Charter schools are not held accountable for achieving educational results.

Question 36

In larger and taller buildings, crime occurs mostly in public areas.

Question 37

Unlike affluent communities, cities lack the tax base to provide adequate per-student expenditures, even with additional state aid.

Question 38

The Housing Act of 1968 failed because it ignored the economic interests of developers.

Question 39

Boston's Columbia Point illustrates the success of homesteading programs.

Question 40

The housing market has generated an increase in the number of low-rent units.

Question 41

Compare the advantages and limitations of public and private projects in providing low- cost housing.

Question 42

Define and briefly discuss magnet schools, school vouchers, and charter schools.

Question 43

The attitude "tough on crime" has been quite popular among politicians in many U.S. urban areas. Explain the limitations of this approach to eliminate crime.

Question 44

What are the different factors that explain the failure of most high-rise public housing projects? Suggest some solutions.

Question 45

Discuss the implications of meeting the No Child Left Behind challenge.

Question 46

Compare the four explanations of the high incidence of crime in inner-city neighborhoods. Which explanation seems more valid to you?