The Impact of Urban Neighborhood Revitalization on the Self-Sufficiency of Public Housing Residents

Abstract

Data shows that after a long history of urban decentralization, some urban areas are experiencing a resurgence of neighborhood investment. With a large body of research on the detrimental effect of the physical and social isolation of inner-city neighborhoods on family well-being, researchers and policymakers have begun to look to urban reinvestment as a means of improving resident outcomes. A separate and growing area of research has looked at the impact of urban neighborhood revitalization trends on neighborhoods and their residents. This study attempts to connect these two areas of research by looking at how neighborhood revitalization creates mixed-income neighborhoods that might alleviate the negative economic and social consequences associated with concentrated poverty in the inner city. Specifically, this paper uses a fixed effect model to measure how gentrified neighborhoods affect the average household income of public housing projects in New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, DC between 1996 and 2000. Does the presence of higher socioeconomic neighbors affect the economic outcomes of public housing residents? The results of this analysis suggest that despite the emphasis of recent public policies on the potential for mixed-income communities to improve economic self-sufficiency among the urban poor, the presence of wealthier, more educated neighbors alone may not provide a sufficient solution.