Eighty-two elderly residents of 12 skid row, working class, and middle class hotels in downtown San Diego, California, were interviewed to study the social arrangements by which they meet their mental health needs and avoid dependency. The hotels emerged as a major source of support. Social differences were found among residents of the middle class hotels, compared to the skid row and working class hotels, whereas skid row and working class residents did not differ from each other on the variables studied.
The Elderly Poor in Downtown San Diego Hotels1
The poor living in urban centers have received increasing attention in recent years, particularly in regard to the housing available to them. One type of urban living accommodation is single room occupancy (SRO) housing—the cheap hotels and rooming houses located in commercial areas adjacent to the downtown business district. The label SRO, however, fails to illuminate the range of age and ethnic groups, life styles, needs, and problems of those living in such housing. Frequently located in "deteriorated zones" targeted for urban renewal and redevelopment, SRO housing has been depleted at a staggering rate, thus creating a housing shortage for an untold number of persons. Like the surrounding urban environment, cheap hotels and rooming houses serve a heterogeneous population with a multiplicity of needs. Since 1974 Western Behavioral Sciences Institute has been concentrating on one segment of the urban population, the elderly nonwelfare poor living in hotels in downtown San Diego, California. The Institute has investigated the social arrangements by which this group meets their mental and physical health needs and avoids dependency. Through a multimethodological approach incorporating extensive participant observation in hotels, informal and formal interviewing, life-history interviews, and the keeping of diaries by residents, the Institute has explored the social support systems, health status, and psycho'Supported by a grant to Western Behavioral Sciences Institute from the National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Studies of Metropolitan Problems, NIMH Crant No. 5-RO1-MH25996. 'Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, 1150 Silverado, La Jolla, CA 92037.
social adjustments of elderly hotel residents. This investigation has been conducted during the time in which the City of San Diego moves to redevelop its downtown core. The study area consisted of the 15-block center city marked for redevelopment and the immediately surrounding neighborhood. Broadway is the main east-west transportation artery, and "south of Broadway" is considered the "tenderloin" zone of downtown. It is characterized by deteriorating buildings, pawn shops, massage parlors, pornographic book stores, hard core pornographic movie houses, cheap hotels, bars, and parking lots. Street action is continual, day and night, with small groups of loitering men talking or swigging on a bottle of wine kept inside a paper sack. One is never alone regardless of the time of day. Over the past several years, "south of Broadway" has changed at an accelerating rate. The continued deterioration of some buildings has been matched by the destruction of others and the completion of two major high rise structures. Interview Procedures
The findings reported here were gathered through interviews administered to 82 residents randomly selected from 12 downtown San Diego hotels. The 12 hotels were classified by observation as being skid row, working class, or middle class and were selected at random from the total 32 residential hotels in the downtown area. Two WBSI staff members independently rated the hotels on a scale ranging from 0 (low) to 10 (high). The largest
440
The Gerontologist
Downloaded from http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries on June 9, 2016
Rosemary Erickson, MA,2 and Kevin Eckert, MA 2
Vol.17, No. 5,1977
441
forced-choice questions, as well as the information from open-ended questions, were coded and scales were scored. A 100% reliability check was completed on the coded material, which was then computer-analyzed. F-tests were administered on data involving multiple means, and Chi-squares were used on nominal data. Within the article, F values and Chi-square values are reported, along with the probability, if it is significant. Personal Characteristics
Many of the hotel residents were longtime urban dwellers. Average residency in all three types of hotels was over 3 years, and some persons had lived in the same hotel for over 20 years. The sample was 90% white, reflecting the lack of minority people living downtown in contrast to much of the rest of San Diego. The middle class hotels had 54% females to 12% for skid row, and 3% for working class. The average age of the hotel residents was 69; the means were 62 for skid row, 66 for working class, and 80 for middle class, and medians were 59, 65, 81, respectively. The ranges, however, were from 46-79 years of age for skid row, 49-92 for working class, and 52-94 for middle class respondents. Age and sex composition are one of the distinguishing features of the three types of hotels. Average education did not differ significantly among groups but was in the expected pattern: 9.8 years for skid row, 10 years for working class, and 11.7 years for middle class. Nearly half (45%) of the middle class had held jobs at the clerical level or higher, whereas only 18% of the skid row, and 14% of the working class had had such jobs (X2 = 6.32, p
The Elderly Poor in Downtown San Diego Hotels1
The poor living in urban centers have received increasing attention in recent years, particularly in regard to the housing available to them. One type of urban living accommodation is single room occupancy (SRO) housing—the cheap hotels and rooming houses located in commercial areas adjacent to the downtown business district. The label SRO, however, fails to illuminate the range of age and ethnic groups, life styles, needs, and problems of those living in such housing. Frequently located in "deteriorated zones" targeted for urban renewal and redevelopment, SRO housing has been depleted at a staggering rate, thus creating a housing shortage for an untold number of persons. Like the surrounding urban environment, cheap hotels and rooming houses serve a heterogeneous population with a multiplicity of needs. Since 1974 Western Behavioral Sciences Institute has been concentrating on one segment of the urban population, the elderly nonwelfare poor living in hotels in downtown San Diego, California. The Institute has investigated the social arrangements by which this group meets their mental and physical health needs and avoids dependency. Through a multimethodological approach incorporating extensive participant observation in hotels, informal and formal interviewing, life-history interviews, and the keeping of diaries by residents, the Institute has explored the social support systems, health status, and psycho'Supported by a grant to Western Behavioral Sciences Institute from the National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Studies of Metropolitan Problems, NIMH Crant No. 5-RO1-MH25996. 'Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, 1150 Silverado, La Jolla, CA 92037.
social adjustments of elderly hotel residents. This investigation has been conducted during the time in which the City of San Diego moves to redevelop its downtown core. The study area consisted of the 15-block center city marked for redevelopment and the immediately surrounding neighborhood. Broadway is the main east-west transportation artery, and "south of Broadway" is considered the "tenderloin" zone of downtown. It is characterized by deteriorating buildings, pawn shops, massage parlors, pornographic book stores, hard core pornographic movie houses, cheap hotels, bars, and parking lots. Street action is continual, day and night, with small groups of loitering men talking or swigging on a bottle of wine kept inside a paper sack. One is never alone regardless of the time of day. Over the past several years, "south of Broadway" has changed at an accelerating rate. The continued deterioration of some buildings has been matched by the destruction of others and the completion of two major high rise structures. Interview Procedures
The findings reported here were gathered through interviews administered to 82 residents randomly selected from 12 downtown San Diego hotels. The 12 hotels were classified by observation as being skid row, working class, or middle class and were selected at random from the total 32 residential hotels in the downtown area. Two WBSI staff members independently rated the hotels on a scale ranging from 0 (low) to 10 (high). The largest
440
The Gerontologist
Downloaded from http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries on June 9, 2016
Rosemary Erickson, MA,2 and Kevin Eckert, MA 2
Vol.17, No. 5,1977
441
forced-choice questions, as well as the information from open-ended questions, were coded and scales were scored. A 100% reliability check was completed on the coded material, which was then computer-analyzed. F-tests were administered on data involving multiple means, and Chi-squares were used on nominal data. Within the article, F values and Chi-square values are reported, along with the probability, if it is significant. Personal Characteristics
Many of the hotel residents were longtime urban dwellers. Average residency in all three types of hotels was over 3 years, and some persons had lived in the same hotel for over 20 years. The sample was 90% white, reflecting the lack of minority people living downtown in contrast to much of the rest of San Diego. The middle class hotels had 54% females to 12% for skid row, and 3% for working class. The average age of the hotel residents was 69; the means were 62 for skid row, 66 for working class, and 80 for middle class, and medians were 59, 65, 81, respectively. The ranges, however, were from 46-79 years of age for skid row, 49-92 for working class, and 52-94 for middle class respondents. Age and sex composition are one of the distinguishing features of the three types of hotels. Average education did not differ significantly among groups but was in the expected pattern: 9.8 years for skid row, 10 years for working class, and 11.7 years for middle class. Nearly half (45%) of the middle class had held jobs at the clerical level or higher, whereas only 18% of the skid row, and 14% of the working class had had such jobs (X2 = 6.32, p
