ABSTRACT
Following the design of the research, we are becoming increasingly more involved with the S.R.O. world. Our interest began on the most distant level when we considered ecological statements about the spatial distribution of S.R.O.’s within a larger urban area. We then examined newspaper accounts of various aspects of the S.R.O. problem, followed by a shift to a closer, more detailed portrait of what physically constitutes an S.R.O., starting from a street-level glance to a walk through the halls, and then into some of the rooms. The chapter to follow advances even a step closer to the S.R.O. world: it will consider those persons who enter and operate in the S.R.O. world on a part-time basis. S.R.O.’ers look to these persons for support, assistance, and occasionally guidance. They might best be described as serving in the role of the “caretakers” of the S.R.O. world.
