First Advisor

Morris Weltman

Date of Publication

1-1-1985

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Urban Studies

Department

Urban Studies and Planning

Language

English

Subjects

Gerontology, Older people -- Housing -- Management

DOI

10.15760/etd.426

Physical Description

3, vii, 123 leaves: facsim

Abstract

Studies at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., during the 1970's, defined a management style already existing for high-performance, assisted housing. Project performance in those studies was based in part on: (a) tenant satisfaction with management, (b) tenant turnover rates, (c) rent delinquency rates, (d) vandalism rates, and (e) operating cost per unit. For this dissertation an attempt was made to evaluate the use of high-performance management guidelines with a newly-opened, assisted-housing project for elderly and handicapped residents. The guidelines used for this study were (a) authority for the project was based on-site, (b) maintenance responsibilities were based on-site, (c) management was a source of service-referral. The Building, Building A, was compared to three existing similar projects where management authority differed. Cost comparisons were made from maintenance budgets from the four buildings. Comparisons of tenant satisfaction with management, volunteerism rates, and perceptions of locus of control were made by means of a questionnaire mailed to all tenants in the four buildings. A locus of control scale was included with the management study because of the special needs of aging residents who face uncontrollable losses in the later years. It was thought that the management style of the experimental building, where authority for the project was based on-site, might influence tenant perception of locus of control. Responses to the questionnaire did not suport the hypothesis that residents in Building A would have significantly higher perceptions of (a) internal control, (b) satisfaction with management, (c) volunteerism rates. There was support for the hypothesis that maintenance operating costs for building A would be significantly lower when comparisons were made among the four buildings. The study concludes that (a) management research would benefit by developing methods to better define and measure management behaviors, (b) data on the reasons for tenant turnover are important sources of information not presently being utilized in senior-projects experiencing vacancy problems, (c) the results of the operating maintenance costs comparisons in this study reinforce the Urban Institute's management guidelines as a point for serious consideration by developers of assisted-housing for elderly and handicapped tenants.

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Comments

Portland State University. School of Urban and Public Affairs.

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/4501

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