The extended length of stay for individuals living in public housing requires further examination as local housing authorities invent new ways to implement programs targeted at increasing “self sufficiency”.  Moreover, the picture painted of such individuals has never reached a consensus among political actors and scholars alike.  This project seeks to analyze the determinants of tenure duration among public housing residents.  Using a sample from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics, this study seeks to ascertain the individual factors associated with longer stints of tenure in public housing.  Using an event history analysis, this project seeks to determine which individual characteristics increase the likelihood of individuals to move out of public housing altogether.  This inquiry of public housing sheds light on policies and motives to demolish it in the place of housing vouchers as well as the contention for the program altogether.  Public housing disproportionately affects individuals of color and those with disabilities serving as the last step from becoming homeless.  While this project cannot capture external barriers to individuals leaving public housing, it does provide a useful analytical tool for understanding individual characteristics for future policy interventions at all levels of government.