Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

As HUD advances its mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality, affordable homes for all, the promotion of mixed-income communities has become a core strategy. Across the U.S., local governments and private developers are increasingly turning to mixed-income development as an approach to deconcentrate poverty and revitalize urban neighborhoods. With the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, launched in 2010, the federal government has extended its commitment to supporting the mixed-income approach to public housing transformation first implemented through the HOPE VI initiative in the mid-1990s. Yet a comprehensive analysis of mixed-income units produced through the $6 billion HOPE VI program has not yet been undertaken. Based on the analysis of HOPE VI quarterly reports data from HUD on grant progress from 1992-2014, we analyze the income and tenure mix of housing units that have been produced through the HOPE VI program. We examine variations by factors such as age and size of development, region, and developer and describe the evolution of the program over time. We examine the factors associated with higher or lower re-occupancy of original residents. We also examine funding leveraged through the HOPE VI and other grants and public housing residents served through community and supportive services.  We undertake an analysis of the duration of various phases of the initiative including relocation, demolition, construction and occupancy. Based on this analysis we propose implications for implementation and evaluation of the Choice Neighborhood Initiative.