Review
One of the sadly unresolved tragedies of American life is the continuing racial segregation in public housing, which in turn generates unequal access to quality education, good-paying jobs, and life-enhancing opportunities. Our nation's public housing policies have undoubtedly contributed to the virulence of racial segregation and discrimination. But those policies can be changed. Turner, Popkin, and Rawlings's rigorous analysis of failures in these policies lends credibility to their ideas for transforming public housing and gives hope to achieving a precious goal--meaningful integration. --Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView
Over the past 15 years, federal policy and local actions have helped eliminate the worst of our nation's public housing. This timely book brings together the multiple perspectives needed to inform strategies for the remaining housing stock, which concentrates families in very poor, segregated neighborhoods. By highlighting the importance of race in the history of public housing and in policy outcomes, the essays in this book should help policymakers design more effective future approaches. --Barbara Sard, Director of Housing Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
This important volume steers clear of pessimism about some of the nation's most entrenched social problems. Yet the authors--and the array of leading practitioners and scholars they have assembled to comment--do not shy away from the barriers that confront change. Beyond the fresh analysis of transformation in America's vital and widely misunderstood public housing program, the book offers insightful commentary on the broader dynamics of segregation, as well as a compelling and practical road map for reform. --Xavier de Souza Briggs, author of Democracy as Problem Solving and editor of The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan America
Review
One of the sadly unresolved tragedies of American life is the continuing racial segregation in public housing, which in turn generates unequal access to quality education, good-paying jobs, and life-enhancing opportunities. Our nation's public housing policies have undoubtedly contributed to the virulence of racial segregation and discrimination. But those policies can be changed. Turner, Popkin, and Rawlings's rigorous analysis of failures in these policies lends credibility to their ideas for transforming public housing and gives hope to achieving a precious goal―meaningful integration. ―Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView
Over the past 15 years, federal policy and local actions have helped eliminate the worst of our nation's public housing. This timely book brings together the multiple perspectives needed to inform strategies for the remaining housing stock, which concentrates families in very poor, segregated neighborhoods. By highlighting the importance of race in the history of public housing and in policy outcomes, the essays in this book should help policymakers design more effective future approaches. ―Barbara Sard, Director of Housing Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
This important volume steers clear of pessimism about some of the nation's most entrenched social problems. Yet the authors―and the array of leading practitioners and scholars they have assembled to comment―do not shy away from the barriers that confront change. Beyond the fresh analysis of transformation in America's vital and widely misunderstood public housing program, the book offers insightful commentary on the broader dynamics of segregation, as well as a compelling and practical road map for reform. ―Xavier de Souza Briggs, author of Democracy as Problem Solving and editor of The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan America
About the Author
Margery Austin Turner directs the Urban Institute s Center on Metropolitan Housing and Communities. An expert on urban policy and neighborhood issues, Ms. Turner analyzes issues of residential location, racial and ethnic discrimination and its contribution to neighborhood segregation and inequality, and the role of housing policies in promoting residential mobility and location choice. She has co-written two national housing discrimination studies, which use paired testing to determine the incidence of discrimination against minority homeseekers. She has also extended the paired testing methodology to measure discrimination in employment and mortgage lending. Ms. Turner served as deputy assistant secretary for research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 through 1996, focusing HUD s research agenda on the problems of racial discrimination, concentrated poverty, and economic opportunity in America s metropolitan areas. Susan J. Popkin is a principal research associate in the Urban Institute s Center on Metropolitan Housing and Communities. A nationally recognized expert on assisted housing, mobility, Dr. Popkin directs the research initiative, which examines the impact radical changes in public housing policy over the past decade have had on residents lives. Dr. Popkin is the lead author of The Hidden War: Crime and the Tragedy of Public Housing in Chicago, has written numerous papers and book chapters on housing and poverty-related issues, and is co-author of the forthcoming book, Moving to Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty. Lynette Rawlings is a research associate in the Urban Institute s Center on Metropolitan Housing and Communities. Dr. Rawlings research examines how the structure, demographics, and governance of America s urban communities shape the quality of life and opportunities available to their residents. As a part of this body of work, Dr. Rawlings has focused on concentrated poverty, neighborhood racial and ethnic change, public housing transformation, and inter-municipal cooperation in metropolitan areas. Dr. Rawlings also founded and directs the Urban Institute Summer Academy for Public Policy Analysis and Research. The Summer Academy is an eight-week program of practical research training and exposure to public policy careers for promising minority undergraduates.
