Closing the gap between places of work and residence: The role of rental housing assistance in southern California

Abstract

This article describes the geographic distribution of federal rental housing assistance in Southern California and investigates how the spatial relationship between subsidized rental housing and employment opportunities is related to the average income of subsidized tenants. Assisted households are concentrated in distressed neighborhoods and do not live in close proximity to most employment opportunities, especially lower‐skill jobs. Public housing and units benefiting from supply‐side subsidies to owners/investors (the Low‐Income Housing Tax Credit program and others) tend to be more concentrated than demand‐side support to tenants (Section 8 vouchers and certificates). Regression analyses that control for tenant and neighborhood characteristics indicate that the average income of subsidized tenants in a given tract is related to the type of rental subsidies received and the geographic access to jobs. Access to lower‐skill jobs is particularly important and ought to be systematically incorporated into the formation and evaluation of rental housing policy.