East German Residential Milieu in Change

Judgement on housing situation before and after the turning point.

Topics: Residence: satisfaction with housing; most important advantages
and disadvantages of the residence as well as of the residential area;
length of residing in residence, in residential area as well as in
city; members of the household; number of rooms; size of residence in
square meters; residence equipment; renovation or modernization of the
residence conducted personally before or after the currency union;
personal participation in renovation work; comparison of residence
shortage with the immediate vicinity; willingness to help with
maintenance; residential status; rent costs (basic rent and rent
including heating) before and after the currency union; receipt of
housing benefit; reasons for possible intent to move; preference for
other city or other part of town; most important change in the housing
situation since the turning point; shopping place; satisfaction with
shopping opportunities in residential area. Residential area:
frequencies of use of and satisfaction with green areas, sport
facilities, old meeting places, offerings of the church parishes,
kindergartens, children´s play areas and facilities for young people;
characterization of the residential area (semantic differential);
changes in the residential area since the turning point. Neighborhood:
integration in the neighborhood; assistance in the neighborhood; mutual
visits; frequency of visits; relatives or friends and acquaintances in
the residential area or in the part of town; size of group of persons
and frequency of visit contacts; effects of the turning point on
neighborhood relations (scale); judgement on the so-called house books
from the time of the GDR; depression and fear of the future (scale).
Planning in the residential area: interest in the local part of the
newspaper; political involvement in the residential area before the
turning point; changes in this involvement since the turning point;
preferred sources of information in city planning; possible forms of
personal political involvement; attitude to renovation measures in the
residential area (scale). City: local ties; most important demands of
an ideal city and satisfaction with these demands at place of
residence; favorite place in the city; unpleasant parts of town;
frequency of trips downtown; desired changes in the city. Work:
employment of respondent and partner; place of work in vicinity of
residence; opportunities for second occupation in the residential area;
personal secondary occupation; current employment situation in
household as well as before the turning point; assumed reasons for
increased employment of women in the GDR; importance of areas of life;
shifting of this importance since the turning point. Leisure time:
having a yard; preferred place of leisure time; change of leisure
behavior since the turning point; preferred place of leisure time for
the children; memberships. Traffic: possession of car, bicycle or moped
before currency union and at time of survey; possession of garage;
means of transport used for the drive to work, in leisure time and for
larger purchases; change in use of various means of transport since the
turning point; most important reasons for this; preferred measures to
improve the traffic situation in the residential area; judgement on the
parking situation; acceptable distance and monthly rent for the nearest
garage. Demography.
Also encoded was: readiness of respondent for a
further interview; interview in residence of respondent; interest of
respondent in survey; assessment of productivity of a possible
intensive interview; residential building size and number of floors;
length of interview; identification of interviewer.