New homeless and old : community and the skid row hotel /

Hoch and Slayton describe in fascinating detail the rise and the demise of single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels in Chicago (with examples from and relevance to other American cities) from 1870 to the present. According to the authors, the loss of these SRO hotels is lamentable because they constituted the crucial nexus in numerous downtown "skid row" communities, most of whose residents were single, working, poor people. The SRO hotels and the communities they fostered have given way to urban renewal, downtown redevelopment and gentrification; SROs have been replaced by shelters but with little in the way of community. In this process former SRO residents have lost their autonomy, privacy, personal security, and more, and the ranks of the homeless have been increased substantially. Hoch and Slayton offer numerous innovative and humane solutions, most of which are bound to be controversial, to the problem of urban homelessness. Well written, balanced, persuasive, this work is accessible and is recommended to anyone with an interest in American cities past and present, poverty, homelessness/housing, and urban planning. Tables, maps, photographs; modest index; endnotes, no separate bibliography. -K. Hadden, University of Connecticut

This Chicago-based research study focuses on the role of SRO (Single Room Occupancy) hotels and their environs in meeting, affordably, individual needs of many less-affluent independent city dwellers. The authors attribute SROs' steady decline in numbers to changing migration patterns in an increasingly technologically oriented economy, zoning codes, gentrification, and urban revewal. Along with the demise of the SROs is a growing class of disadvantaged urban poor--the ``new'' homeless. The authors argue that government attitudes rooted in New Deal philosophy, and public confusion of this group's characteristics with those of a stereotypical Skid Row deviant, have resulted in inadequate planning for dealing with people who have a legitimate social problem and need enlightened attention. Recommended for professionals and academics.-- Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Alfred (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.