An Improved Living Environment? Relocation Outcomes for HOPE VI Relocatees

Brief #1 from the series "Metropolitan Housing and Communities: A Roof Over Their Heads"

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As distressed public housing is demolished and replaced with mixed-income communities under the HOPE VI program, one of the most difficult challenges has been to design and implement relocation programs that effectively address residents' myriad needs (see page 7). When a building is slated for demolition, residents are typically offered the choice of moving with a voucher or to another public housing unit. Some residents are also offered the option to return to the revitalized HOPE VI site, although screening requirements (e.g., employment, drug testing, criminal background) may preclude them from eligibility. There are often long delays between the demolition of the original units and the construction of the new housing on the HOPE VI site.

To assist with the move, housing agencies are required by the Uniform Relocation Act to provide displaced residents with a "comparable unit" and cover moving expenses. Typical relocation services include moving expenses and assistance in finding a new public housing or voucher unit. Sometimes housing agencies go further and assist with the actual move.

Moving is difficult. For many residents, receiving quality relocation assistance when moving from distressed public housing will help provide access to future opportunities, whether living in a lower-poverty neighborhood, a mixed-income community, or, in the case of the elderly, a senior building. Similarly, ineffective and inadequate relocation services can lead to families living in the same dreadful conditions they left behind. Because what happens during relocation to a large extent drives where families will end up, housing assistance tools, and the design and implementation of relocation, are critical to the success of HOPE VI.

This brief examines relocation assistance for public housing residents at five sites that make up the HOPE VI Panel Study: Ida B. Wells in Chicago, Illinois; Shore Park Terrace in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Easter Hill in Richmond, California; East Capitol in Washington, D.C.; and Few Gardens in Durham, North Carolina. We look specifically at the housing assistance tools (e.g., vouchers, other public housing units, homeownership) agencies used to relocate residents and barriers to successful relocation. We further explore how many residents want to return to the revitalized development and how many are leaving subsidized housing all together. Our analysis reveals the following seven findings.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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