Overview

In the popular imagination, public housing tenants are considered, at best, victims of intractable poverty and, at worst, criminals. ""More Than Shelter"" makes clear that such limited perspectives do not capture the rich reality of tenants' active engagement in shaping public housing into communities. By looking closely at three public housing projects in San Francisco, Amy L. Howard brings to light the dramatic measures tenants have taken to create--and sustain and strengthen--communities that mattered to them. ""More Than Shelter"" opens with the tumultuous institutional history of the San Francisco Housing Authority, from its inception during the New Deal era, through its repeated leadership failures, to its attempts to boost its credibility in the 1990s. Howard then turns to Valencia Gardens in the Mission District; built in 1943, the project became a perpetually contested and embattled space. Within that space, tenants came together in what Howard calls affective activism--activism focused on intentional relationships and community building that served to fortify residents in the face of shared challenges. Such activism also fueled cross-sector coalition building at Ping Yuen in Chinatown, bringing tenants and organizations together to advocate for and improve public housing. The account of their experience breaks new ground in highlighting the diversity of public housing in more ways than one. The experience of North Beach Place in turn raises questions about the politics of development and redevelopment, in this case, Howard examines activism across generations--first by African Americans seeking to desegregate public housing, then by cross-racial and cross-ethnic tenant groups mobilizing to maintain public housing in the shadow of gentrification.Taken together, the stories Howard tells challenge assumptions about public housing and its tenants--and make way for a broader, more productive and inclusive vision of the public housing program in the United States.

Full Product Details

Author:   Amy L. Howard
Publisher:   University of Minnesota Press
Imprint:   University of Minnesota Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.386kg
ISBN:  

9780816665822

ISBN 10:   0816665826
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   14 April 2014
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

Contents AbbreviationsIntroduction 1. “To Provide Decent, Safe, and Sanitary Housing”: San Francisco’s Housing Authority2. The Contested Mission of Valencia Gardens3. “Peace and Prosperity Dwell among Virtuous Neighbors”: Chinatown’s Public Housing4. “The Best Project in Town”: North Beach Place Conclusion: Looking Back, Moving Forward AcknowledgmentsNotesIndex 

Reviews

More Than Shelter adds San Francisco to the short list of American cities that have had their public housing story told well from multiple perspectives. The book is engagingly written and offers new contexts and stories of distinctive community sagas that challenge conventional assumptions about the downward trajectory of American public housing. As such, it is another significant contribution to revisionist thinking about public housing, an urgent message at a time when government efforts to provide deep housing subsidies to low-income families continue to be under attack. --Lawrence Vale, MIT

This book not only combats the moralistic stereotyping of public housing residents, but its uniquely West Coast perspective adds to the national narrative. --Planning Magazine A powerful antidote to the one-dimensional portrayal of public housing residents and the context of their lives. A groundbreaking accomplishment and a must-read for anyone contemplating the future of low-income housing in the United States. --Shelterforce Well-written and detailed. --Journal of American History More Than Shelter offers an important bottom-up history of tenant struggles in public housing in San Francisco and its pages hold stories and lessons well worth exploring. --Working USA: The Journal of Labor & Society Amy Howard paints a compelling portrait of public-housing residents as politically active citizens whose pride and sense of ownership lead to community activism and change. --Contemporary Sociology Howard's work sheds an important light on the impact of public housing policies on communities. --Jennifer Chutter, Left History Using an interdisciplinary approach, pairing participant observation with an extensive collection of oral histories and archival research to trace the history of public housing activism in San Francisco, More Than Shelter rejuvenates a needed conversation over affordable public housing in urban cities across the United States. --City & Society With an eye toward the West, and San Francisco in paritcular, this book enriches our knowledge of public housing, particularly policy debates and--laudably--working-class people's lived experiences and interactions with the State. --Rhonda Y. Williams, author of The Politics of Public Housing: Black Women's Struggles against Urban Inequality More Than Shelter adds San Francisco to the short list of American cities that have had their public housing story told well from multiple perspectives. The book is engagingly written and offers new contexts and stories of distinctive community sagas that challenge conventional assumptions about the downward trajectory of American public housing. As such, it is another significant contribution to revisionist thinking about public housing, an urgent message at a time when government efforts to provide deep housing subsidies to low-income families continue to be under attack. --Lawrence Vale, MIT

This book not only combats the moralistic stereotyping of public housing residents, but its uniquely West Coast perspective adds to the national narrative. --<i>Planning Magazine</i></p> A powerful antidote to the one-dimensional portrayal of public housing residents and the context of their lives. A groundbreaking accomplishment and a must-read for anyone contemplating the future of low-income housing in the United States. --<i>Shelterforce</i></p> Well-written and detailed. --<i>Journal of American History</i></p> <i>More Than Shelter o</i>ffers an important bottom-up history of tenant struggles in public housing in San Francisco and its pages hold stories and lessons well worth exploring. --<i>Working USA: The Journal of Labor & Society</i></p> Amy Howard paints a compelling portrait of public-housing residents as politically active citizens whose pride and sense of ownership lead to community activism and change. --<i>Contemporary Sociology</i></p> Howard's work sheds an important light on the impact of public housing policies on communities. --Jennifer Chutter, <i>Left History </i></p> Using an interdisciplinary approach, pairing participant observation with an extensive collection of oral histories and archival research to trace the history of public housing activism in San Francisco, <i>More Than Shelter</i> rejuvenates a needed conversation over affordable public housing in urban cities across the United States. --<i>City & Society</i></p>

With an eye toward the West, and San Francisco in paritcular, this book enriches our knowledge of public housing, particularly policy debates and--laudably--working-class people's lived experiences and interactions with the State. --Rhonda Y. Williams, author of The Politics of Public Housing: Black Women's Struggles against Urban Inequality <p/> More Than Shelter adds San Francisco to the short list of American cities that have had their public housing story told well from multiple perspectives. The book is engagingly written and offers new contexts and stories of distinctive community sagas that challenge conventional assumptions about the downward trajectory of American public housing. As such, it is another significant contribution to revisionist thinking about public housing, an urgent message at a time when government efforts to provide deep housing subsidies to low-income families continue to be under attack. --Lawrence Vale, MIT

Author Information

Amy L. Howard is executive director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement and associated faculty in American studies at the University of Richmond.

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