Housing in the Broader Context in the United States 695 Housing Policy Debate • Volume 6, Issue 3 695 © Fannie Mae 1995. All Rights Reserved. Housing in the Broader Context in the United States Anne B. Shlay Temple University Abstract Housing is central to participation in the economic mainstream, yet housing policy has been fragmented by competing, if not contradictory, goals. This article proposes an expanded policy that incorporates a stronger link between housing and economic inequality. Through examples, it argues that housing policy should be a tool for economic development, strengthening families, and building community. Definitions of adequate housing must go beyond minimum physical standards to include issues that are central to people’s ability to become successful members of society; housing can be an economic entity, a consumer item, or a spatial location. Going beyond bricks and mortar—making connections be- tween housing policy and seemingly separate areas—allows policy to be more coherent. The article examines the links between housing and three vital areas: family life, community economic development, and social mobility. This analysis suggests that the most important housing problems are affordability, neighborhood underdevelopment, and spatial inequality. Keywords: Housing; Policy; Community development/revitalization Introduction Until the mid-1970s, U.S. housing policy defined decent housing largely in physical terms (Hartman 1983). Partly because of the multitude of problems accompanying rapid urbanization and industrialization, as well as high immigration rates, housing adequacy was conceived as the minimum tangible set of necessi- ties required for people to lead healthy, if not productive, lives (Hartman 1975). These necessities included adequate plumbing, ventilation, light, and space, as well as the absence of faulty wiring and malfunctioning heating units. This connection be- tween housing and health, though not tested empirically, was a fundamental impetus for the reform movement to regulate housing (Harloe 1995; Marcuse 1978). The focus on the link between housing and health fostered a physically deterministic approach to housing (Glazer 1980).