What term refers to the cramped, poorly ventilated urban housing described as problematic for the poor?

• A. Tenements
• B. Slums
• C. Apartments
• D. Housing policy

Answer: (A)

Cramped, poorly ventilated urban housing used by the poor refers to tenements. These were cheap, multi-family buildings in growing cities during the 19th and early 20th centuries, packed with small rooms, few windows, and shared facilities like toilets and street-level access. The living conditions were often unhealthy and overcrowded, which made tenements a defining symbol of immigrant and working-class urban life before reform laws began improving light, air, and safety in housing. Slums describe the broader, deteriorated neighborhoods rather than a specific building type; apartments can imply more modern or middle-class housing, and housing policy refers to laws and programs rather than the housing itself.