La Casita -- housing designed for Latinos : two cases from Southern California

As the nation's fastest growing minority group, Latinos are expected to be the main engine of household growth over the next decade. This demographic trend is most apparent in Southern California. While much attention has been paid to making homeownership more accessible to Latinos, no serious considerations have been given as to how or if the housing product should be adapted. I contend that because Latinos have distinct household formation and commuting patterns, the preferences for the housing they occupy are also different. This thesis investigated how home builders have responded to the Latino consumer. I found that the innovators of culturally competent housing for Latinos were non-profit developers. These organizations were best suited to understand their Latino client population and so the housing they developed took into account more than the provision of shelter; they considered supportive services, culturally-specific uses of space, and a Latino aesthetic. Because they were driven by motivation other than profit, these developers- New Economics for Women and Casa Familiar- have proven t be more innovative than private developers.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Murillo, Brittanya Alicia

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Xavier de Souza Briggs.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37667

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37667