HOPE VI Resident Displacement: Using HOPE VI Program Goals To Evaluate Neighborhood Outcomes

Roderick W. Jones , Indiana University
Derek J. Paulsen , Eastern Kentucky University

As with the articles in this issue, this introduction reflects the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This study evaluates the neighborhoods selected by HOPE VI residents in Lexington, Kentucky, following the demolition of the Charlotte Court housing project. HOPE VI is a public policy program designed to address problems associated with severely distressed public housing. A central routine of HOPE VI is demolishing housing projects and redeveloping the original site into new mixed-use housing. Demolition displaces a large percentage of residents to other neighborhoods, using Section 8 vouchers. In this study, using the goals of HOPE VI as a conceptual framework, we developed measures to determine if HOPE VI residents improved their circumstances at the neighborhood level following their displacement. We found no significant difference between the original Charlotte Court neighborhood and the new neighborhoods that residents selected. Using negative binomial regression, the results of the study show that crime and the percent of the population that is African American are significant predictors of the number of displaced households within a neighborhood selected by displaced residents. The study concludes with a discussion of policy implications and an offering of potential solutions to the many problems associated with HOPE VI resident displacement.