Safety Is the Most Important Thing

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Abstract

Fear of crime has profound implications for residents, causing stress and social isolation; relocation has brought about a dramatic positive impact on residents’ life circumstances. Those residents who left traditional public housing—voucher holders and unassisted renters and homeowners—are now living in neighborhoods that are dramatically safer than their original public housing developments. These improvements in safety have had a profound impact on their quality of life; they can let their children play outside, they are sleeping better, and are feeling less worried and anxious overall. However, those who remain in traditional public housing developments are still living in extremely dangerous circumstances, little better than where they started.

Introduction

The HOPE VI program targeted the nation's worst public housing—poorly constructed developments suffering from years of neglect, where crime and violence were overwhelming (see text box on page 11). Exacerbating the problems, most of these developments were extremely racially and economically segregated, and located in neighborhoods nearly as distressed.1 Thousands of vulnerable families lived in these troubled communities, most because they had no other alternative. The damage to the residents who endured—and sometimes contributed to—these conditions was profound. Many were victims of the overwhelming social disorganization, addicted to drugs, abused or neglected by drugaddicted parents, killed or injured in the drug wars, arrested or incarcerated, or simply traumatized by the stress of coping with the constant violence and disorder (Popkin et al. 2000).

Growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods harms children and adolescents in many ways, including poor physical and mental health, risky sexual behavior, and delinquency.2 In particular, exposure to violence can have profound—and lingering— effects on children's mental health and development (Kilpatrick et al. 2003). Boys growing up in these communities are at great risk for delinquency; girls face pressure for early sexual initiation and the risk of sexual violence (Popkin, Leventhal, and Weisman 2007). All children are at risk for dropping out of school and having trouble finding work. Severely distressed public housing developments like the ones HOPE VI targets are among the worst environments for children—and adults—in the nation; their residents are very likely to suffer some of the worst consequences of concentrated poverty.

The HOPE VI Panel Study tracked the experiences of a sample of 887 original residents from five developments slated for revitalization in 1999 and 2000 (see text box on page 11). At baseline in 2001, survey respondents at all five sites reported intolerable conditions. Across the sites, virtually all (90 percent) residents reported serious problems with social disorder—drug trafficking, drug use, and gang activity. Even worse, about 75 percent viewed violent crime (shooting, assaults, and rape) as "big problems" (Popkin et al. 2002). In-depth interview respondents described being overwhelmed by the all-pervading drug trafficking and gang activity, speaking of bullets coming in their windows, children caught in the crossfire, and the efforts they had to make to shield their children from the violence and disorder that surrounded them.

(End of excerpt. The complete brief is available in PDF format.)

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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