The Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration Program (MTO), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is one of the most significant research efforts to study the effect of neighborhood conditions on the lives of very low-income families. Through an experimental research design, the demonstration program examined the effect of neighborhood conditions on a variety of outcomes thought to influence the life chances of adults and children, including mobility, housing, neighborhoods, and social networks; mental and physical health; economic self-sufficiency; risky and criminal behavior; and educational achievement. The researchers followed more than 4,600 very lowincome families in five U.S. cities over a 10- to 15-year period to examine the short- and long-term effects of moving to low-poverty neighborhoods.

Press Release of MTO Report