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Participant: I don't think you should just give it to people because they—you know what I mean? #ey have to earn it somehow. Although this Consumerism model is the most dominant way for people to reason about housing quality, there were several other deep patterns of reasoning that participants employed to reason about this topic. B. !e Where You Live Affects You model. Our research shows that the public does have access to a way of thinking in which the quality of housing depends on the place where it is located. "Place" is conceptualized as concentric circles of state, city, neighborhood, and even immediate neighbors. People can understand that these places shape the opportunities one has for life and work. Moreover, the speci"c people who share each place (neighborhoods, cities, and states) are also understood to affect housing quality. Participants conceptualized various ways in which neighboring people can make housing better (e.g., by providing support systems and opportunities for social interaction) or worse (e.g., by being noisy, engaging in neighborhood disputes, or failing to keep up a property). Participant: It's [the quality of your housing] what you see. It's who you're around. For example, I'm in an apartment where I see people walking, constantly jogging, working out. We have a "tness center down there for access. So that is promoting your health and well- being, taking care of yourself versus a place that doesn't even have anything like that. — Participant: A lot is not expected of someone who lives in a poor area, such as going to college. If you live in a richer area, it's pretty much expected that you're going to go to college. It's not just that you're going to get a job paying minimum wage for the rest of your life. It's not really acceptable in that environment. C. !e Evil Slumlord cultural model. #e bad guy in the public's story is the crooked or "just plain greedy" landlord. According to this model, crooked landlords only care about money—not about people. As such, they shirk their responsibilities to ensure that their buildings meet basic quality standards. Because the public assumes that many landlords are motivated solely by "nancial gain, they o%en believe that owning one's home is preferable to renting. Just as the public assumes that the problems associated with poor rental housing stem from uncaring, greedy landlords, they assume that addressing these issues requires "nding a way to make landlords "care more." 5 Participant: #ey [landlords] don't care about the upkeep of their apartment. #ey don't care. #ey just want to get paid. #ey don't "x the apartments, they don't "x the housing, they are slumlords if you want to call them that. — "A House, a Tent, a Box": Mapping the Gaps Between Expert and Public Understanding of Healthy Housing 20

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