Housing Barriers: Trends in the Nation's Fourth-Largest City

Abstract

While many barriers to decent and affordable housing in the United States have fallen, many Americans still do not enjoy complete freedom in selecting a place to live. Over five decades of federal housing policies, programs, and legislation have achieved mixed results in providing equal access of all Americans to decent and affordable housing. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (i.e., the Fair Housing Act) were the two major pieces of federal legislation designed to remove the barriers to free choice in the housing market. Most recently, the 1988 amendment to the Fair Housing Act was enacted to plug some of the gaps left in the earlier fair housing legislation. Despite the efforts at the federal level, the problem of individual and institutional discrimination remains a major obstacle for many African-Americans and other ethnic minorities seeking decent and affordable housing (see Bullard, 1983, 1984; Bullard & Tryman, 1980; Feins & Bratt, 1983; James, McCumming, T Kain, 1979, 1980; Krivo, 1982; Lake, 1981; Pearce, 1979; Pol & Guy, 1982; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1979; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1979; Wilson, 1979). Discriminatory practices complicate the housing search for millions of Black families. The various forms of discrimination have