Public housing transformation and the hard‐to‐house

Abstract

The transformation of public housing will necessarily have profound effects on the lives of thousands of very vulnerable families. For three decades, public housing served as the housing of last resort, with federal regulations increasingly favoring the neediest households. But this transformation has meant dramatic changes in federal policy for housing the poor by promoting mixed-income housing and the use of vouchers to prevent the concentration of troubled, low-income households. This transformation has largely failed to address the needs of the hard-to-house residents who have relied on public housing for stable, if less than ideal, housing.We use data from two studies of developments targeted for HOPE VI (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) revitalization to estimate the size of the hard-to-house population. We conclude that public housing authorities will need to develop a range of alternative options to ensure that all residents obtain stable, secure housing.

Black Women Coping with HOPE VI in Spartanburg, South Carolina

“…I am summarizing the most prominent of these trends disturbing trends under "Findings." These finding are consistent with the results of other HOPE VI site studies in the USA (Feldman 2007;McInnis et al 2007;Popkin et al 2004a, b;Popkin et al 2005;Smith and Housing 2002).…”

Public Housing Transformation and Crime: Making the Case for Responsible Relocation

“…31 This recommendation is consistent with a wide range of research showing how concentrations of disadvantaged households adversely affect neighborhoods (Galster, Cutsinger, and Malega, 2008;Galster et al, 2003). How to best prevent such reconcentration has been discussed at considerable length (Briggs, Popkin, and Goering, 2010;Galster et al, 2003;Grigsby and Bourassa, 2004;Turner, 2008, 2001;Pendall, 2000;Popkin and Cunningham, 1999;Popkin, Cunningham, and Burt, 2005;Turner and Williams, 1998).…”

Struggling to stay out of high-poverty neighborhoods: housing choice and locations in moving to opportunity's first decade

“…or assisted housing has been demolished and ''vouchered out'' in favor of mixedincome redevelopment (Popkin, Cunningham, and Burt 2005;Popkin and Cove 2007;Snell and Duncan 2006;Walker 2000, 2007) and in recent desegregation programs (Pashup et al 2005); and (b) limited time, money, transportation, information, and other resources important to effective housing search (Basolo and Nguyen 2006;Pashup et al 2005). Where information for search is concerned, Varady and Walker's (2007) multi-city study of vouchering out found that voucher holders leaving public housing were more likely to find out about available apartments from friends and relatives, newspaper ads, or real estate listings than from housing counselors.…”