Interim Assessment of the HOPE VI Program Cross-Site Report

Book excerpt: In 1989, Congress established the Nat. Comm. on Severely Distressed Public Housing to explore the problems of troubled public housing developments and to establish a plan to address those problems by the year 2000. Following several years of research and public hearings, the Comm.'s 1992 final report identified the key factors that defined severely distressed housing: extensive physical deterioration of the property; a considerable proportion of residents living below the poverty level; a high incidence of serious crime; and management problems as evidenced by a large number of vacancies, high unit turnover, and low-rent collection rates. The Comm. members agreed that existing approaches for improving public housing were inadequate to address the needs of severely distressed developments and proposed the creation of a new program to address comprehensively the social and physical problems of distressed public housing communities. Originally called the Urban Revitalization Demonstration Program, this public housing revitalization program soon became known by the acronym HOPE VI (Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere). In 1998, under the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a 5-year evaluation of the HOPE VI program was begun. The Interim Assessment of the HOPE VI Program was designed to study program outcomes by collecting and analyzing data about 15 HOPE VI sites once redevelopment was completed and units were reoccupied. This report presents the study findings. Figures and tables. This is a print on demand report.