Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/MaryKCunningham

This brief focuses on the neighborhoods available to voucher recipients in Chicago. It examines the location of units with rents below Fair Market Rents, neighborhood quality where voucher holders are located, and the quality of neighborhoods with the most affordable housing. Our findings indicate that mobility efforts that do not include larger policies to curb discrimination, including stricter enforcement of fair housing policies and enforcement of local ordinances that make refusing to rent to vouchers holders illegal, are doomed to fail.

Public housing transformation has largely failed to address the more complex needs of "hard-to-house" residents who have relied on public housing as a source of stable, if less than ideal, housing. The hard-to-house such as high-need households, grandparents caring for grandchildren, families with disabled members, very large households, and multiple-barrier families. For these vulnerable families, the same public housing transformation that may offer better housing and new opportunities for other tenants can be just one more blow. This brief lays out a strategy for serving hard-to-house residents who remain in distressed public housing or who are experiencing hardship as a result of HOPE VI-related relocation.

The authors review the policy implications of "The State and Local Housing Flexibility Act of 2005," which was recently introduced in the Senate and House. Drawing on Urban Institute research, they discuss significant limitations on housing choice for families with housing vouchers and the possibility that many may end in high-poverty neighborhoods.

This brief examines the efficacy of providing housing mobility assistance to families with vouchers by examining the Housing Opportunity Program in Chicago. To help families move to opportunity neighborhoods, HOP provides housing search counseling and unit referrals, free credit reports and budget counseling, transportation to view units, expedited housing inspections, workshops on landlord-tenant law, and post-move support. The authors find that voucher holders who enroll in HOP and receive mobility services are significantly more likely to move to opportunity neighborhoods. Vulnerable households, large families, black households and public housing relocatees are less likely to move to opportunity neighborhoods. [View the corresponding press release]

As Chicago's public housing is demolished to make way for new mixed-income communities, an unknown number of homeless squatters living illegally in vacant public housing units will also lose their housing. As illegal squatters, these residents have neither legal right to relocation services nor the right to return to revitalized developments. This study has two main research objectives. The first is to count the number of homeless people illegally living in Ida B. Wells, a public housing development slated for demolition. We hope that quantifying the extent of the homelessness problem at Wells will assist policymakers in developing an effective response. The second objective is to understand the squatters' current living situations, the factors that contributed to their homelessness, and their service needs.

This brief examines housing assistance outcomes, two years after the start of relocation at five HOPE VI panel study sites. Overall, 61 percent of the 736 respondents had relocated by the time of the follow-up survey. We find that vouchers are the primary relocation tool, and, not surprisingly, residents who are dissatisfied with public housing were more likely to relocate with vouchers. If handled properly, relocation could significantly improve residents' lives by helping them move to quality housing in safe neighborhoods. However, a number of challenges with relocation remain, including tight rental markets and limited relocation services.

Launched in 1992, the $5 billion HOPE VI program represents a dramatic turnaround in public housing policy and one of the most ambitious urban redevelopment efforts to date. HOPE VI has also helped transform the Department of Housing and Urban Development's approach to housing assistance. Congress, the administration, housing groups, local elected officials, resident advocates, and the media are now asking challenging questions about what the investment has accomplished. This report looks at the extent to which HOPE VI has achieved its intended benefits and what lessons are offered for affordable-housing policy. A comprehensive literature review is included, as well as policy implications and future research priorities. [View the corresponding press release]

Once one of the Chicago Housing Authority's (CHA) largest properties, with 3,200 units in four adjacent developments, the Ida B. Wells community is being demolished to make way for a new, mixed-income community. As the old buildings come down, it remains unclear whether the remaining residents will fit into this new community. A real concern for policymakers and administrators is that the residents who were easy to relocate have already moved, while many of those who remain may be at risk of losing their housing. However, other than anecdotal evidence, little information is available to help CHA administrators assess the true number of residents who may need special housing options or are at risk of losing their housing assistance. The purpose of this study is to help inform the city, the CHA, community groups, and private agencies involved in planning and implementing relocation plans for Wells and CHA's other public housing developments by systematically documenting the characteristics and needs of remaining Wells residents. [View the corresponding press release]

The CHAC Mobility Counseling Assessment intends to examine neighborhood outcomes for Housing Choice Voucher holders and to assess CHAC's efforts in providing mobility counseling to voucher holders interested in moving to opportunity neighborhoods. The study also aims to provide ongoing feedback to the CHA and CHAC--the organization that administers the Housing Choice Voucher program and operates the Mobility Program--and other actors concerned about the Housing Choice Voucher Program, such as the Mayor's Office; Chicago Department of Human Services; and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This final report outlines the findings and lessons learned from the study. [Read the press release]

The HOPE VI Panel Study focuses on the longer-term location, neighborhood conditions, physical and mental health, and socioeconomic outcomes for original residents of five HOPE VI developments where redevelopment activities began in mid- to late 2001. The specific research questions the study addresses fall into seven issue areas: housing outcomes; neighborhood outcomes; social integration; health outcomes; child education and behavior outcomes; socioeconomic outcomes; and experiences with relocation and supportive services. The study is structured as a pre- and post-intervention study, with the intervention being the changes brought about by HOPE VI activities.

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