The changing problem of overcrowded housing. Myers, Dowell.; Baer, William C.,; Choi, Seong-Youn. Citation: Journal of the American Planning Association. , v. 62 (Winter '96) p. 66-84 Number: BSSI96027751. ISSN: 0194-4363. Copyright: The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation of the copyright is prohibited.. Residential overcrowding has long been identified as an important housing problem. Early in the century, lower-income households were doubled and tripled up in substandard tenement housing in major cities, particularly those receiving waves of immigrants (Ward 1971, chapter 4). These conditions, which helped to call the social reform movement into being, thus lie at the very roots of the housing profession and of city planning more generally (Lubove 1962). Over the course of the century, and especially after the Great Depression, the incidence of overcrowding steadily declined until the 1980s. In that decade, however, overcrowding reversed its downward national trend, especially for renters: in 1980 it affected 7 percent of renter households, but that figure rose to 8.9 percent in 1990. As one would expect, this increase in overcrowding is not spread evenly across the nation, but is concentrated in certain states where the reversal has been especially dramatic, as we will show. The problem also affects certain types of households more than others. Overcrowding is a highly complex problem, involving household structure, racial and ethnic diversity, housing availability, and consumer preferences. The dynamics of what causes overcrowding are largely unknown. Instead, past social science research has focused largely on the effects of overcrowding, although even those findings are uncertain. Moreover, the issue of overcrowding exemplifies the current perplexities about imposing a particular, middle-class, majority standard in an evolving multiethnic society. In short, how much crowding is excessive? Considering the historical variability of definitions of overcrowding, and the differences we believe exist among ethnic groups, it is time to re-examine this issue. Not only is the problem according to its traditional definitions growing in magnitude, but, we believe, the nature of the problem and its very definition for policy purposes are also changing. It will be useful to identify the local factors that explain the marked variation in levels of residential crowding between locales, and between ethnic and racial groups. Restrictions on housing supply, housing affordability, low incomes, and immigrant concentrations are all possible explanations. We also should re-examine our policy responses to these emerging conditions, because the traditional responses could misdirect the nation's limited housing aid. This article seeks to fill part of the information void surrounding the resurgence of overcrowding. We first review how the measures of overcrowding are applied in housing policy. Then we turn to an empirical analysis of 1990 census data to learn more about the factors associated with higher rates of overcrowding. We begin with the question of who is overcrowded, surveying a number of different characteristics, and examining the roles of income, household size, and race/ethnicity in detail. Next we explore where overcrowding is