US Public Housing Research Articles

“The chaos of not knowing”: Embodied experiences of waiting for public housing redevelopment and relocation

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has instituted several successive programs to redevelop aging and distressed US public housing. The current program, the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, aims not only to redevelop housing but also to improve the health of public housing residents through a whole neighborhood transformation, at the cost of privatizing components of housing. In the present case study, we examine relationships and perceptions about public housing redevelopment and health among residents affected by the Sun Valley Choice Neighborhood Initiative in Denver, Colorado. We address how public housing residents experience redevelopment, with particular emphasis on the temporal, physical and embodied mental experience of “waiting” for housing in a community undergoing radical transformation. We understand and conceptualize waiting as the process that generates stressors, and embodiment as the process of internalizing stressors through the mechanism of weathering (Geronimus, 1992; Krieger, 2021). Through repeated interviews with 21 residents, we highlight several themes that tie together experiences of waiting for displacement as well as experiences of stress and uncertainty related to the bureaucracy of public housing redevelopment. We document how participants struggled with the emotional impact of imposed change, found waiting to be destabilizing for their mental health, and how they embodied experiences of displacement anxiety. These findings show how redevelopment projects impose a forced waiting on the state that extends precarity and further destabilizes the lives and mental health of public housing residents.

More private than public: the choice neighborhoods initiative as another tool for state-led gentrification in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Denver CO

ABSTRACT Through the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI), private investors and developers replace distressed US public housing with new mixed-income and mixed-use developments. Although these projects promote community involvement and are purported to prioritize community input and to benefit residents, private investors have disproportionate power and often modify redevelopment to favor the market-rate units while receiving tax incentives, extremely low-cost and long-term land-leases, and government funds for demolition, construction, maintenance, and management. Through a CNI program in Denver (US) we identify and examine the hardships experienced by its residents. CNI transitioned residents toward modern living amenities and mixed-income arrangements but with a loss of community and negatively impacted residents’ mental and physical health. Our initial findings highlight how this regeneration process can lead to degeneration, displacement, fragmented communities, and poor health outcomes for residents. Federal and local agencies should commit to programs that ensures collaborative community-centred planning from beginning to end.

Air pollution exposure disparities in US public housing developments

Fine particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in diameter (PM2.5) is widely recognized to be a major public health concern. While ethnic/racial minority and lower socioeconomic status individuals in the US experience higher PM2.5 exposure, previous research on social disparities in PM2.5 exposure has not examined residents of federally-assisted public housing developments (PHDs). Here we present the first national-scale analysis of the relationship between outdoor PM2.5 exposure and PHD residency in the US, as well as exposure disparities within the population of households residing in PHDs. We integrated data on average annual PM2.5 concentrations (2011–2015) with US Department of Housing and Urban Development data on PHDs (2015), and socio-demographic information from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey. Results from multivariable generalized estimating equations indicated that PHD locations, units, and residents are significantly overrepresented in neighborhoods with greater PM2.5 exposure, after accounting for clustering, urbanization, and other socio-demographic factors. Additionally, significantly higher percentages of Black, Hispanic, disabled, and extremely low-income households reside in PHDs with greater PM2.5 exposure. Findings represent an important starting point for future research and emphasize the urgent need to identify gaps in environmental, public health, and housing policies that contribute to disproportionate air pollution exposures among PHD residents.

"I think everybody will have to get together for it to work": NYCHA Tenant Perspectives on HUD's 2018 Smoke-Free Mandate Captured Prior to Policy Implementation.

In July 2018, a new federal mandate by the Department of Housing and Urban Development went into effect requiring all US public housing authorities to implement policies banning smoking in living units, indoor common areas, administrative buildings, and outdoor areas within 25 feet of these buildings. Although some housing authorities had smoke-free policies in place for decades, others had to implement them for the first time. Housing authorities continue to face challenges in ensuring compliance with these policies, and resident perspectives can greatly inform measures to promote adherence. We conducted in-person interviews with 20 New York City Housing Authority tenants in April 2018. Our thematic analysis examined resident opinions on the upcoming smoke-free housing policy. Although 65% of residents supported the policy, 50% anticipated poor adherence due to expected lack of enforcement, safety issues with smoking outdoors, and general discontent with the housing authority and living conditions. However, many participants felt adherence could be improved if the housing authority optimized resource-provision and communication with tenants. Our study adds to existing literature examining tenant views on the controversial topic of mandatory smoke-free housing policies, and our interviews were conducted at a unique time prior to policy implementation in the country's largest public housing authority. Based on our results, we provide recommendations for housing authorities including: (1) information and resource-provision, (2) safety enhancement, and (3) relationship building with tenants in order to maximize policy adherence. Our study is unique because we captured resident views prior to policy implementation in a housing authority without a preexisting smoke-free policy in place. In comparison, most recent research on this topic has focused on the postimplementation period or used survey research methods in the preimplementation phase. Our findings add to extant research about tenant perspectives on smoke-free housing policies and offer suggestions to address barriers to compliance.

Maternal caregiver's typologies and internalized behaviors in African American adolescents living in urban public housing.

This study explores how variations in maternal caregiver types may be associated with adolescents' internalized behaviors (i.e., depressive symptoms) and resources (i.e., attitudes toward delinquent behaviors and efficacious beliefs). Using a sample of 375 African American youth from public housing in three large US cities, we used Latent Profile Analysis to identify various maternal caregiver classes. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess whether youth can be correctly classified into maternal caregiver classes based on their internalized behaviors. Three maternal caregiver classes were identified. Results suggest youth living with high encouragement and high (supervision) maternal caregivers were associated with more conventional attitudes, higher self-efficacy, and lower depressive symptoms. Findings highlight how maternal caregivers can influence the internalizing behaviors of African American youth in US public housing. Individual, community, and system-level interventions can be leveraged to support the impact of these maternal caregivers.

Investigating the Support Networks for Mothers of a High-density Public Housing Community and the Effects of Housing Closures on These Support Systems.

Over the past few decades, public housing initiatives have focused on the decentralization of poverty by replacing high-density public housing (HDPH) models with lower-density, mixed-income models. This action has resulted in the displacement of families who had lived in these developments for generations. In past studies, public housing residents have been shown to have stronger social ties than those living in other types of assisted housing. Research on the dismemberment of US public housing has demonstrated a "root shock" or disruption in the support infrastructure in these resource-limited communities. The purpose of this study was to use intergenerational analysis to analyze support systems of mothers in a low-income community and to investigate how the dismemberment of a Chicago HDPH community, Cabrini Green, affected parenting experiences and support infrastructure. Two generations of the former HDPH community were interviewed: (Gen1) mothers who raised their children in Cabrini Green and (Gen2) their daughter(s) who were raised in Cabrini Green but who now raise their children elsewhere. Interviews were analyzed for common themes in relation to mental health, social support networks, and parenting experiences. Four main components of parenting support were identified: familial support, father of child support, community support, and institutional support. Interviews suggest that the closing of Cabrini-Green high-rise buildings impacted relative contributions from specific components of mothers' support infrastructure, particularly community and institutional support. Mothers with support void in one component of support had better outcomes if they had the reserve to compensate by increasing one or more other areas of support. Programs that foster other sources of parenting support during and after public housing closures may help to improve outcomes for mothers and their families. By analyzing the experiences of mothers of both generations, we also gain insight into how experiences of motherhood and support systems compared before and after Cabrini Green's dissolution as well as insight into the participants' views on the impact of the housing closing on the parenting experience.

The limits of housing revitalization as a platform for improving residents’ economic well-being: lessons from the U.S.

ABSTRACTThirty years ago, the United States faced a crisis with its public housing stock. This paper reviews what the evidence shows about the successes and failures of 20 years of public housing transformation, especially on what these efforts have meant for the residents who have endured both distressed public housing and the stresses of forced relocation for redevelopment initiatives. I focus on the ways that policy-makers have tried to use these efforts as a catalyst for improving residents' lives and trying to help them move toward self-sufficiency, and describe some of the innovative efforts to use housing as a platform for offering supportive services. Finally, I argue that current policy shifts are setting the stage for a new crisis in US public housing that has the potential to do real harm to the residents who depend on it to be able to afford safe and stable homes.

‘The opposite of a European democracy’: the American real estate lobby, French and British social housing, and the making of the postwar American welfare state, 1945–1949

This article takes a new approach to the question of postwar American welfare state ‘exceptionalism’ by arguing that scholars should look at ideas and discourses of American welfare exceptionalism in historical context as a social construct and a political project. By focusing on the National Association of Real Estate Boards’ lobbying campaign against US public housing legislation in the late 1940s, I show that US business interests often used the example of Western European welfare state initiatives in order to not only decisively shaped specific pieces of social legislation, but to contest the very meaning of the postwar New Deal state.

Sisphyean Struggles: Encounters and Interactions within Two US Public Housing Programs

Sisphyean Struggles: Encounters and Interactions within Two US Public Housing Programs

Impact of Public Housing Relocations

Cross-sectional and ecologic studies suggest that place characteristics influence sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Using data from a predominately substance-misusing cohort of African American adults relocating from US public housing complexes, this multilevel longitudinal study tested the hypothesis that participants who experienced greater postrelocation improvements in neighborhood conditions (i.e., socioeconomic disadvantage, social disorder, STI prevalence, and male/female sex ratios) would have reduced the odds of testing positive for an STI over time. Baseline data were collected in 2009 from 172 public housing residents before relocations occurred; 3 waves of postrelocation data were collected every 9 months thereafter. Polymerase chain reaction methods were used to test participants' urine for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Trichomonas vaginalis. Individual-level characteristics were assessed via survey. Administrative data described the census tracts where participants lived at each wave (e.g., sex ratios, violent crime rates, and poverty rates). Hypotheses were tested using multilevel models. Participants experienced improvements in all tract-level conditions studied and reductions in STIs over time (baseline: 29% tested STI positive; wave 4: 16% tested positive). Analyses identified a borderline statistically significant relationship between moving to tracts with more equitable sex ratios and reduced odds of testing positive for an STI (odds ratio, 0.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.02-1.01). Changes in other neighborhood conditions were not associated with this outcome. Consonant with past research, our findings suggest that moving to areas with more equitable sex ratios reduces the risk of STI infection. Future research should study the extent to which this relationship is mediated by changes in sexual network dynamics.

Changes in Exposure to Neighborhood Characteristics are Associated with Sexual Network Characteristics in a Cohort of Adults Relocating from Public Housing.

Ecologic and cross-sectional multilevel analyses suggest that characteristics of the places where people live influence their vulnerability to HIV and other sexually-transmitted infections (STIs). Using data from a predominately substance-misusing cohort of African-American adults relocating from US public housing complexes, this multilevel longitudinal study tested the hypothesis that participants who experienced greater post-relocation improvements in economic disadvantage, violent crime, and male:female sex ratios would experience greater reductions in perceived partner risk and in the odds of having a partner who had another partner (i.e., indirect concurrency). Baseline data were collected from 172 public housing residents before relocations occurred; three waves of post-relocation data were collected every 9 months. Participants who experienced greater improvements in community violence and in economic conditions experienced greater reductions in partner risk. Reduced community violence was associated with reduced indirect concurrency. Structural interventions that decrease exposure to violence and economic disadvantage may reduce vulnerability to HIV/STIs.

The end of US public housing as we knew it

US public housing policy changed significantly in the 1990s in order to transform primarily high-rise developments into low-density mixed-income communities. While the goal of better quality housing for low-income people is good, the means to this end has raised concerns about the future of public housing in the United States. This article examines the outcomes from the past 15 years, focusing on demolition and redevelopment, which has not only produced fewer public housing units overall but, more importantly, entangled public housing in the market crisis. Now the same speculative hands that it was supposed to be protected from when first conceived drive its development. Examples from Chicago illustrate this point.

The aftermath of public housing relocation: Relationship to substance misuse

IntroductionSeveral cross-sectional studies have examined relationships between neighborhood characteristics and substance misuse. Using data from a sample of African-American adults relocating from US public housing complexes, we examined relationships between changes in exposure to local socioeconomic conditions and substance misuse over time. We tested the hypothesis that adults who experienced greater post-relocation improvements in local economic conditions and social disorder would have a lower probability of recent substance misuse. MethodsData were drawn from administrative sources to describe the census tracts where participants lived before and after relocating. Data on individual-level characteristics, including binge drinking, illicit drug use, and substance dependence, were gathered via survey before and after the relocations. Multilevel models were used to test hypotheses. ResultsParticipants (N=172) experienced improvements in tract-level economic conditions and, to a lesser degree, in social disorder after moving. A one standard-deviation improvement in tract-level economic conditions was associated with a decrease in recent binge drinking from 34% to 20% (p=0.04) and with a decline in using illicit drugs weekly or more from 37% to 16% (p=0.02). A reduction in tract-level alcohol outlet density of >3.0 outlets per square mile predicted a reduction in binge drinking from 32% to 18% at p=0.05 significance level. DiscussionWe observed relationships between improvements in tract-level conditions and declines in substance misuse, providing further support for the importance of the local environment in shaping substance misuse. These findings have important implications for public housing policies and future research.

Public housing and gender: Contextualizing the “We Call These Projects Home” report

The “We Call These Projects Home” (WCTPH) report draws attention to the ways in which US public housing policy has disregarded the input and preferences of public housing residents, a population largely composed of women of color. In this article, I examine the findings from the WCTPH report in the context of past and recent research on poverty, housing, race, and gender. I explain how breaking up communities and social networks in the shift from housing projects to housing vouchers destroys social support networks, which are essential to the survival of poor women and single-mother headed families. I discuss challenges women may face in the shift to housing vouchers in light of recent research on continued rental discrimination and sexual harassment in the private housing market. Overall, I emphasize how the findings from the WCTPH report have important implications for women of color, and argue that a gender analysis of public housing is central to understanding and remedying the multitude of challenges public housing policy presents.

Public housing relocations in Atlanta, Georgia, and declines in spatial access to safety net primary care

This analysis investigates changes in spatial access to safety-net primary care in a sample of US public housing residents relocating via the HOPE VI initiative from public housing complexes to voucher-subsidized rental units; substance misusers were oversampled. We used gravity-based models to measure spatial access to care, and used mixed models to assess pre-/post-relocation changes in access. Half the sample experienced declines in spatial access of ≥79.83%; declines did not vary by substance misuse status. Results suggest that future public housing relocation initiatives should partner with relocaters, particularly those in poor health, to help them find housing near safety-net clinics.

A comparison of Dutch and US public housing regeneration planning: the similarity grows?

Based on a comparison of HOPE VI and Big Cities Policy in the United States and the Netherlands, we argue that despite major differences in context, there has been a convergence in regeneration strategies in the two countries. In both countries the neighbourhoods look better, are safer and have a better reputation. However, in the Netherlands shopping facilities have improved more than in the United States. In both countries, most of the original residents have a better quality of life after than before the policies were implemented, whether they live on-site or have relocated. However, the needs of multi-problem families are not being met by either HOPE VI or Big Cities Policy. Finally, there is no evidence that the original residents have become more self-sufficient in either country as a result of the regeneration.

Permeable homes: A historical political ecology of insects and pesticides in US public housing

This paper traces changes in the political ecology of insects and chemicals in US public housing since Congress founded public housing in 1937. Drawing upon the literature of critical geographies of home, urban political ecology, and medical history, it argues that the constitution of “public” and “private” space within public housing was deeply entangled with pest control practices there. Prior to 1945, reformers treated the housing as a commons, in part compelled by the mobility of bedbugs and the pesticide used to combat them, both of which were seen as serious health threats. Managers were also motivated by social welfare ideologies, while residents eagerly assisted with communal control policies in order to achieve freedom from the health insults of bedbugs. Following 1945, however, new synthetic pesticides like DDT seemed to stay safely within one apartment unit, encouraging housing managers to abandon community-oriented pest control practices. Meanwhile, curtailed budgets, particularly after the Housing Act of 1949, left the infrastructure of public housing to decay, rendering units more physically permeable even as managers neglected the communities there. The new pesticides nearly eradicated bedbugs, but tenacious populations of German cockroaches blossomed thanks to the permeable buildings and synthetic pesticides. Residents grew increasingly resistant to pesticide use as they observed that cockroach populations went unabated. The paper serves as a case for applying political ecology frameworks to domestic spaces, and also argues that housing quality and domestic pesticide use are not merely private responsibilities but should be regarded as environmental justice issues.

“Moving Three Times Is Like Having Your House on Fire Once”: The Experience of Place and Impending Displacement among Public Housing Residents

The HOPE VI programme in the US displaces tens of thousands of low-income households to disperse pockets of poverty and transform sites of `severely distressed' public housing into mixed-income housing. A complete evaluation of this programme's impacts on residents must examine the meanings and functions of these communities before they are dismantled. Therefore, this paper examines residents' lived experiences of place in one site before redevelopment. This socially well-functioning community allowed residents to lay down roots, form place attachments and create bonds of mutual support with neighbours, contrary to typical depictions of severely distressed housing. Implications for US public housing policy and parallels with the discourse on social housing and social inclusion in western Europe illuminate overarching trends in housing policy for the poor.

The dignity of resistance: women residents' activism in Chicago public housing

Foreword Sheila Radford-Hill Preface and acknowledgments Part I. Introduction: 1. Struggle for homeplace Part II. Wentworth Gardens' Historic Context: 2. US public housing policies: Wentworth Gardens' historic backdrop 3. Memory of a better past, reality of the present: the impetus for resident activism Part III. Everyday Resistance in the Expanded Private Sphere: 4. The community household: the foundation of everyday resistance 5. The local advisory council (LAC): a site of women-centered organizing 6. Women-centered leadership: a case study 7. The appropriation of homeplace: organizing for the spatial resources to sustain everyday life Part IV. Transgressive Resistance in the Public Sphere: 8. The White Sox Battle: protest and betrayal 9. Linking legal action and economic development: tensions and strains 10. Becoming resident managers: a bureaucratic quagmire Part V. Conclusions: 11. Resistance in context Epilogue Appendices References Index.

US public housing in the 1930s: The first projects in Atlanta, Georgia

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, European philanthropists, industrialists, and governments built homes and communities aimed at improving the health and welfare of low and middle income workers. By 1930, the United States remained the only developed country in the Western world without a national legislative and financial commitment to housing. This paper explores the attitudes and circumstances affecting the creation of American public housing in the 1930s and examines the federal government's first attempts at replacing slums with subsidized apartments in the Techwood and University Homes projects in Atlanta, Georgia.