Housing Aspirations of Southern Appalachian Families1

Abstract
The purposes of this study were to: (1) characterize specific dimensions of life styles in Southern Appalachia, (2) describe current housing conditions, and (3) examine housing aspirations of samples of rural and urban families of the region. In 1969 interviews were conducted with 274 rural and 227 urban families who lived in low‐income areas of Southwest Virginia. In the analysis, answers to questions developed around 10 housing characteristics were used to construct a suburban modern/mountain traditional summed scale. Findings suggest that for the most part the mountain respondents desired new or relatively new single‐family houses with modern equipment, quite similar to houses desired by mainstream Americans. We concluded that the respondents had relatively high aspirations but that implementation had been constrained by low income and lack of education.

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    Published by University of Michigan Library ,1956