Howard Husock

In the following viewpoint, Howard Husock contends that subsidized public housing has failed and should be replaced by the private housing market. Husock argues that public housing has expensive maintenance costs and establishes unrealistic building codes and zoning laws that lead to housing shortages. In addition, he asserts, subsidized public housing does not allow poor families to create better neighborhoods through their own hard work. A housing policy that offers different levels of housing and does not have unnecessary building codes would be the best solution for the housing shortage, according to Husock. Husock is the director of the Case Study Program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What are the two approaches to public housing in the current era, according to...