No description available.

The writer proposes in this study to set forth, in brief, the functions of lending institutions in financing home building and home improvements under the plan of loans offered by the Federal Housing Administration.

No description available.

Recently federal policy aimed at halting decline in urban neighborhoods has included a major focus on housing rehabilitation efforts. In the case of Portland, Oregon, federally funded improvement loans for owner-occupied housing units resulted in the rehabilitation of almost four thousand homes from 1975 until 1978, over twice the number of homes rehabilitated in any other city in the nation. The purpose of the present study was to examine and analyze the city's rehabilitation loan program in two ways. First, the loan process itself was examined to ascertain whether there were any deficiencies in the loan program which should be corrected. The second, and primary, focal point was the specific neighborhoods where rehabilitation loans have been funneled. The impact of the loan programs on the neighborhoods as communicated by their residents determined how successful Portland has been in dealing with urban decline through its loan programs. Prior to gathering primary data on the neighborhoods, several secondary sources of information were used. The Portland Development Commission's in-house evaluations of the loan process demonstrated strong recipient support for the program. A survey of loan recipient files showed loans going to low income families with few assets. Although half of the loans went to married couples, a substantial number of loans went to divorced women and widows. The majority of rehabilitated homes were over fifty years old, and their median assessed value was $16,500. Secondary data was also used to look at outside perceptions of changes taking place in loan neighborhoods. Real estate trends and mortgage and home improvement loan activities suggested that the impact of the government loan programs has not yet been substantial enough to trigger changes in private policies related to the neighborhoods. Primary data for the study came from a random sample survey of four hundred persons in four Portland neighborhoods. Two neighborhoods, one in the north section of the city and one in southeast, where loans have been given, were paired with two control neighborhoods where loans were not available. The survey instrument used contained 72 variables chosen as capable of determining what the impact of the loan program has been on loan recipients, their neighbors, and their neighborhoods. Four outcomes could have stemmed from the loan programs. The first possibility was that people living in the neighborhoods where Housing and Community Development loans have been granted should feel more positive about their neighborhood than those not living in HCD neighborhoods. A second consequence could have been that HCD neighborhoods are upgrading socio-economically. Third, HCD neighborhood residents simply may not have perceived improvements in their neighborhoods, or fourth, even if they perceive improvements, they do not show significantly higher levels of satisfaction with their neighborhoods than holds true for respondents living in the control neighborhoods. The data indicated that although residents in HCD neighborhoods do perceive improvements taking place in their neighborhoods, their levels of satisfaction with their neighborhoods are not significantly higher than satisfaction levels in non-loan neighborhoods. Socio-economic changes may be taking place in the Southeast HCD neighborhood. As for the loan process, the program was rated highly by the recipients of the loans, both in in-house evaluations done for the Portland Development Commission and as reported in the neighborhood survey. The study concludes that the city's efforts provided a solid first step in developing a strong commitment to strengthening inner city neighborhoods, but it is only a first step. A stronger commitment, particularly on the part of private industry, is needed to end urban neighborhood decline.

The Consumer's Guide is designed to help consumers by providing guidelines for the purchase of specific energy-efficient household appliances- water heaters, air conditioning and heating systems, windows, dishwashers, refrigerators, clothes washers, and dryers. This serves two major purposes: to decrease the environmental impact of those products and to save consumers money over the lifetime of the products. The seven major appliances covered in this work are things that consumers tend to purchase quickly when their older models wear out and with little research into their energy and/or water efficiency. The guide begins with a general introduction and an explanation of the need for energy conservation. Explanations of how they work, purchasing tips, installation tips, maintenance tips, tips for additional energy efficiency, and case studies are given for each appliance. Printable pamphlets are included at the end.

<p>This dissertation is based on four years of ethnographic research of contemporary women-only social formations. Two women-only leisure activities, women’s flat track roller derby and women-only home improvement workshops, were selected as sites through which to explore the research problem: problematizing contemporary women onlyness. The research problem is developed in direct contrast to the dominant (naturalized, essentialized, assumed) approach to women onlyness in the literature. Specifically, taking a fresh look at women-only social formations by problematizing women onlyness, through exploring women’s experiences of and meaning making about women onlyness, calls critical attention to women onlyness. The analysis, informed by a conceptual framework that draws on Connell’s concept of ‘gender regime’ and a CCCS-inspired approach to cultural production, reveals the ways that women participants are active in the production of women onlyness gender regimes. Specifically, women’s flat track roller derby skaters and women-only home improvement workshop participants consistently and constantly negotiate essentialized stereotypes of gender as they “win space” for themselves in traditionally male-dominated and masculine defined activities and settings, and make meaning of their involvement in these women-only leisure activities. Women participants produce women onlyness gender regimes in the ways they make time and space for and gender mark these activities, and in social interactions with each other, men, and other women. They work to produce women onlyness gender regimes that are experienced as welcoming, supportive, and comfortable, and encourage women to develop expertise and relationships with other participants. Emphasizing these processes of production reveals that these women onlyness gender regimes are not the natural result of a women-only group or the exclusion of men. These findings contradict the tendency in the existing literature to naturalize women onlyness, and contribute to our understanding of contemporary women-only social formations.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Cette thèse de sociologie qualitative porte sur les pratiques et les significations des aménagements de l’habitat chez des couples d’individus nouvellement retraités et issus du « Baby-Boom ». Elle rend compte des dynamiques - socio-historiques, identitaires et corporelles, relationnelles et de mode de vie - qui modèlent l’expérience du « vieillir » et de l’ « habiter » de ces individus, et ce, dans une double temporalité : dans le temps présent, à travers les aménagements réalisés et/ou projetés à court terme ; dans l’avenir, à travers les aménagements réalisés par anticipation des risques liés à la vieillesse et/ou projetés à long terme. Les résultats de cette thèse montrent, d’une part, que les aménagements de l’habitat et leurs pratiques afférentes constituent les « supports » d’une transition dans le parcours de vie, pour des « êtres vieillissants sans être vieux » qui arrivent à la retraite et en même temps, au dernier tiers de leur vie. Dans le même mouvement, ils montrent comment les liens et les activités diverses de « pivots générationnels » nouvellement retraités façonnent leur habitat et leur façon d’habiter en début de retraite. D’autre part, les résultats de cette thèse donnent à voir une approche « endogène » de l’adaptation de l’habitat, à l’heure où cette question constitue un enjeu essentiel pour les pouvoirs publics et pour les individus. Cette recherche montre sur ce point comment des Baby-Boomers font preuve, via l’aménagement de leur habitat, d’un empowerment notable au sujet de leur vieillissement présent et à venir, afin de vivre et de vieillir « bien » et si possible, chez eux. Les résultats exposés donnent aussi à penser le potentiel du « confort » pour accompagner les individus issus des générations du Baby-Boom dans la prévention des risques de l’avenir et la préparation de leur vieux jours. En même temps, cette recherche invite à réfléchir à certains freins liés aujourd’hui (encore) à ces questions, tels qu’un imaginaire de la vieillesse profondément négatif, que certaines images et messages véhiculés continuent de nourrir. / This thesis of qualitative sociology is about practices and meanings of home’s adaptations made by newly retired couples of Baby Boomers. It reports various dynamics – sociological, historical, physical or of identity, relationship and lifestyle - that shape the experience of "ageing" and the "housing" of these individuals, and this in two different time frames : in the present, through realized and /or short-term planned developments; in the future, through the developments made by anticipation of risks linked to the ageing and/or long-term projection. The results of this thesis show, first of all, that the adaptation of housing and related practices constitute some "supports" for this transition in the life course, and for "ageing but not old yet” people coming to retirement and entering the “last third of their life”. In the same time, they show how the relationships and the various activities of newly retired "generational pillars" shape their habitat and way of living in the early retirement period. On the other hand, the results of this thesis give to see an "endogenous" approach to adaptation of housing, at a time when this issue is a major challenge for governments and individuals. Regarding this point of view, this research demonstrates how Baby Boomers show, through the development of their habitat, a significant empowerment about their present and future ageing in order to live and age "good" and if possible, at home. The exposed results also suggest the potential of "comfort" in order to help Baby Boomers in the process of risk’s prevention, for the future and the preparation of their old years. At the same time, this research encourages to think about the obstacles that still exist on these questions, such as the deep negative perception of aging, that certain popular images and messages continue to feed.