Resident Initiatives in Public Housing

Abstract

This paper reports initial results of a survey exploring current practice in Public Housing Authorities in Michigan and Indiana. Particular emphasis is given to current efforts to support citizen empowerment, particularly resident management and private ownership. Major findings include:• The institutional context in which housing authorities operate vary both within and across states.• Efforts of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to impose broad policy are limited by local and state factors.• Individual housing authorities show significant variation in their commitment to resident initiatives.• Variation in local commitment to resident initiatives is not simply a function of the authority’s size or complexity.• Systematic interstate variations in commitment to resident initiatives (as well as overall programmatic priorities) exist.Suggestions for further research recommended examining the impact of resident initiatives at both the authority level and the individual development or neighborhood level.