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After World War II, Americans began living in increasing numbers in the suburbs, belts around major cities with higher density than rural areas, but much lower than urban areas. This move has been attributed to many factors such as the automobile, the availability of large tracts of land, the increasing violence in urban centers, and the cheapness of housing. These new single-family houses were usually one or two stories tall, and often were part of large contracts of homes built by a single developer. The resulting low-density development has been given the pejorative label "urban sprawl."
American housing policy not only affects all Americans' quality of life, but has a direct impact on their financial well being. About 70 percent of American households own their own homes, and for most, their homes represent the majority of their net worth. Renter are affected by housing policy. Even the small minority of Americans who are homeless are affected by housing policies specifically targeted to low-income individuals. Government policies dictate whether people can build new housing on their land, what type of housing they can build, the terms allowed in rental contracts, and much more.
Most Americans are happy to talk about their homes. And if they've done anything special in their home, they'll let you know what it was. Most Americans live in cities, but nearly as many live in suburbs. Suburban American has shopping centers called malls and residents usually need a car to get around. There are few tall buildings in the suburbs. Private houses might only have a back yard, and if there is garage it probabaly is small.
Except for individual houses, there is also a mechanism known as public housing. Public housing was established to provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. At same time, it can reduce unemployment, stimulate business activity and improve the urban look. In this field, American government has been keeping ahead in the world. Nowadays, there are approximately 1.3 million households living in public housing units. However, there are many problems exist in the course of public housing although these problems are trying to be solved, such as the conditions of some public housing developments had been so corroded that they attracted drug and criminal activity and became slum again.
