HOPE VI
Encyclopedia
HOPE VI is a plan by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
. It is meant to revitalize the worst public housing projects in the United States
into mixed-income developments. Its philosophy is largely based on New Urbanism
and the concept of Defensible space
.
The program began in 1992, with formal recognition in law in 1998. As of 2005, the program had distributed $5.8 billion through 446 federal block grants to cities for the developments, with the highest individual grant being $67.7 million, awarded to Arvene/Edgemere Houses in New York, NY.
HOPE VI has included a variety of grant programs including: Revitalization, Demolition, Main Street, and Planning grant programs. As of June 1, 2010 there have been 254 HOPE VI Revitalization grants awarded to 132 housing authorities since 1993 – totaling more than $6.1 billion.
in Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1954, and consisting of approximately 1,500 apartment units, they fell into disrepair and became quite dangerous and by the 1980s only 300 families lived there and the buildings were falling apart. Eventually, realizing the situation was almost hopeless, in 1984 Boston turned over the management, cleanup, planning and revitalization of the property to a private development firm Corcoran-Mullins-Jennison. The construction work for the new Harbor Point development began in 1986 and completed by 1990. It was a beautifully laid out, mixed income community, called Harbor Point Apartments.
Congress established the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing in 1989 to study the issue of dilapidated public housing. After submitting the report to Congress in 1992, legislation creating the HOPE VI grants was written.
HOPE VI was the last gasp for public housing according to Henry Cisneros
, then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
President George W. Bush
has previously called for the abolition of the HOPE VI program, and Congress
has reduced funding for the block grants.
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom
proposed a local version of HOPE VI, using a $100 million public bond referendum to gather private money to rehabilitate outdated public housing projects.
In FY 2009 HOPE VI received a $120 million budget; however, in FY2010 no funds were budgeted for HOPE VI and a new Choice Neighborhoods program had a proposed budget of $250 million. Over the course of 15 years HOPE VI grants were used to demolish 96,200 public housing units and produce 107,800 new or renovated housing units, of which 56,800 were to be affordable to the lowest-income households. The new and renovated housing units were mixed income, less dense, and sought to attain better design and integration into the local neighborhoods.
By applying defensible space, most communities are specifically designed or remodeled with private property, emphasizing security. Buildings are low-rise and often integrated directly into failing urban areas, in an effort to revitalize them. Private custodianship, with individuals taking care of their assigned part of the project, is a critical element. Likewise, providing residents with high-quality materials and houses is believed to encourage pride in the space and an interest in keeping things in good condition. This, theoretically, mitigates vandalism.
In general, much of the philosophy comes from a theory that apartment buildings are not healthy spaces for human habitation. Only with substantial wealth can an apartment building maintain the characteristics of security, social networking, and urban integration that the designers feel is necessary for a healthy community. Instead, the lower-rise, urban feel with a sense of safety in the built environment satisfies that need.
Many of the elements of the program do not involve construction of buildings at all. More funding goes to housing assistance vouchers than in previous programs. As with the strategy of constructing in-fill housing in middle-class neighborhoods and providing new housing for market-rate buyers, this element helps integrate residents into existing neighborhoods, to produce a certain cohesion. In almost all implementations of the program, housing authorities and non-profits have provided resident-assistance information programs for new homeowners, teaching them and their neighbors how to take care of a house that they must protect.
Some have criticized the new developments, because they do not require a "one-for-one" replacement of the old housing unit—the new unit does not have to house the same number of tenants, which results in a net loss of housing for the poor. (The one-for-one replacement policy was repealed by Congress in 1998, separately from HUD's implementation of HOPE VI.) The Urban Institute
reported that the number of units receiving a federal subsidy and available for the deeply poor to live in is cut in half in developments arising from the program. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has said that no HOPE grants should be allotted without requirements for one-for-one unit replacement.
The NLIHC maintains that in order to acquire federal grants, local housing authorities have "demolished viable units and displaced families." The program has been called "notorious" for its allotment of federal grants for demolition of public housing, and some say it has resulted in a "dramatic loss of housing."
Some critics have said that local authorities use the program as a legal means to evict poor residents in favor of more affluent residents in a process of gentrification
. They have said that less than 12% of those displaced from old housing eventually move into the replacement housing. One writer asserted that in the case of a section of Cabrini–Green in Chicago, residents were forced out for HOPE VI redevelopment by armed police. Federal auditors found that HUD was awarding grants based on the ability of the area to generate income for the city rather than the actual state of the housing project in question. Only seven of the first 34 grants went towards the development of high-rise housing.
Criticism has also been targeted at the private management of the eventual redevelopments, which are built with mostly public funding. Others have characterized this is a positive aspect of the program.
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
. It is meant to revitalize the worst public housing projects in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
into mixed-income developments. Its philosophy is largely based on New Urbanism
New urbanism
New Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...
and the concept of Defensible space
Defensible space
Defensible space may refer to:*Defensible space , a concept of influencing negative social behavior through architectural and urban design....
.
The program began in 1992, with formal recognition in law in 1998. As of 2005, the program had distributed $5.8 billion through 446 federal block grants to cities for the developments, with the highest individual grant being $67.7 million, awarded to Arvene/Edgemere Houses in New York, NY.
HOPE VI has included a variety of grant programs including: Revitalization, Demolition, Main Street, and Planning grant programs. As of June 1, 2010 there have been 254 HOPE VI Revitalization grants awarded to 132 housing authorities since 1993 – totaling more than $6.1 billion.
History
An exemplary precursor and inspiration to the HOPE VI model was the Columbia Point Housing Projects on Columbia PointColumbia Point (Boston)
Columbia Point, later referred to as Harbor Point, in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts sits on a peninsula jutting out from the mainland of eastern Dorchester into the bay.-History:...
in Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1954, and consisting of approximately 1,500 apartment units, they fell into disrepair and became quite dangerous and by the 1980s only 300 families lived there and the buildings were falling apart. Eventually, realizing the situation was almost hopeless, in 1984 Boston turned over the management, cleanup, planning and revitalization of the property to a private development firm Corcoran-Mullins-Jennison. The construction work for the new Harbor Point development began in 1986 and completed by 1990. It was a beautifully laid out, mixed income community, called Harbor Point Apartments.
Congress established the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing in 1989 to study the issue of dilapidated public housing. After submitting the report to Congress in 1992, legislation creating the HOPE VI grants was written.
HOPE VI was the last gasp for public housing according to Henry Cisneros
Henry Cisneros
Henry Gabriel Cisneros is a politician and businessman. A Democrat, Cisneros served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997...
, then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
has previously called for the abolition of the HOPE VI program, and Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
has reduced funding for the block grants.
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
proposed a local version of HOPE VI, using a $100 million public bond referendum to gather private money to rehabilitate outdated public housing projects.
In FY 2009 HOPE VI received a $120 million budget; however, in FY2010 no funds were budgeted for HOPE VI and a new Choice Neighborhoods program had a proposed budget of $250 million. Over the course of 15 years HOPE VI grants were used to demolish 96,200 public housing units and produce 107,800 new or renovated housing units, of which 56,800 were to be affordable to the lowest-income households. The new and renovated housing units were mixed income, less dense, and sought to attain better design and integration into the local neighborhoods.
Program concepts
HOPE VI makes use of New Urbanism, meaning that communities must be dense, pedestrian-friendly, and transit-accessible. Housing rarely comes in the form of apartments, instead private houses, duplexes, and especially for these public housing projects, rowhouses are preferred, because these buildings directly interact with the street. Similarly, houses always stand close to the street, with small front yards. It is common to see porches on the buildings, as well as small apartments for single residents built over garages or on the ground floor.By applying defensible space, most communities are specifically designed or remodeled with private property, emphasizing security. Buildings are low-rise and often integrated directly into failing urban areas, in an effort to revitalize them. Private custodianship, with individuals taking care of their assigned part of the project, is a critical element. Likewise, providing residents with high-quality materials and houses is believed to encourage pride in the space and an interest in keeping things in good condition. This, theoretically, mitigates vandalism.
In general, much of the philosophy comes from a theory that apartment buildings are not healthy spaces for human habitation. Only with substantial wealth can an apartment building maintain the characteristics of security, social networking, and urban integration that the designers feel is necessary for a healthy community. Instead, the lower-rise, urban feel with a sense of safety in the built environment satisfies that need.
Many of the elements of the program do not involve construction of buildings at all. More funding goes to housing assistance vouchers than in previous programs. As with the strategy of constructing in-fill housing in middle-class neighborhoods and providing new housing for market-rate buyers, this element helps integrate residents into existing neighborhoods, to produce a certain cohesion. In almost all implementations of the program, housing authorities and non-profits have provided resident-assistance information programs for new homeowners, teaching them and their neighbors how to take care of a house that they must protect.
Criticisms
Some have criticized the plan for having the right goals but not accomplishing them or not going about them in the right way. The National Housing Law Project issued a joint report saying, "HOPE VI has been characterized by a lack of clear standards, a lack of hard data on program results, and misleading and contradictory statements made by HUD." The report said:"HUD's failure to provide comprehensive and accurate information about HOPE VI has created an environment in which misimpressions about the program and its basic purposes and outcomes have flourished- often with encouragement from HUD. HOPE VI plays upon the public housing program's unfairly negative reputation and an exaggerated sense of crisis about the state of public housing in general to justify a drastic model of large-scale family displacement and housing redevelopment that increasingly appears to do more harm than good."
Some have criticized the new developments, because they do not require a "one-for-one" replacement of the old housing unit—the new unit does not have to house the same number of tenants, which results in a net loss of housing for the poor. (The one-for-one replacement policy was repealed by Congress in 1998, separately from HUD's implementation of HOPE VI.) The Urban Institute
Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that carries out nonpartisan economic and social policy research, collects data, evaluates social programs, educates the public on key domestic issues, and provides advice and technical assistance to developing governments abroad...
reported that the number of units receiving a federal subsidy and available for the deeply poor to live in is cut in half in developments arising from the program. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has said that no HOPE grants should be allotted without requirements for one-for-one unit replacement.
The NLIHC maintains that in order to acquire federal grants, local housing authorities have "demolished viable units and displaced families." The program has been called "notorious" for its allotment of federal grants for demolition of public housing, and some say it has resulted in a "dramatic loss of housing."
Some critics have said that local authorities use the program as a legal means to evict poor residents in favor of more affluent residents in a process of gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
. They have said that less than 12% of those displaced from old housing eventually move into the replacement housing. One writer asserted that in the case of a section of Cabrini–Green in Chicago, residents were forced out for HOPE VI redevelopment by armed police. Federal auditors found that HUD was awarding grants based on the ability of the area to generate income for the city rather than the actual state of the housing project in question. Only seven of the first 34 grants went towards the development of high-rise housing.
Criticism has also been targeted at the private management of the eventual redevelopments, which are built with mostly public funding. Others have characterized this is a positive aspect of the program.
Previous projects
- Hanover Acres in Allentown, PennsylvaniaAllentown, PennsylvaniaAllentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
- Cascade Village in Akron, OhioAkron, OhioAkron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
- Edgewood Village in Akron, OhioAkron, OhioAkron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
- Pueblo del SolPueblo del Sol, Los Angeles, CaliforniaPueblo del Sol is a housing project in the Boyle Heights district of Los Angeles, California. It is operated by the McCormack Baron Ragan Corporation....
and Pico Gardens in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... - Hurt Village/Lauderdale Courts in Memphis, TNMemphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
(now Uptown Homes) - Dixie Homes in Memphis, TNMemphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
- Lamar Terrace in Memphis, TNMemphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
(now University Place) - LeMoyne Gardens in Memphis, TNMemphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
(now College Park) - High Point, Seattle
- Capitol Gateway in Atlanta
- Robert Taylor HomesRobert Taylor HomesRobert Taylor Homes was a housing project in the Bronzeville neighborhood of the South Side of Chicago, on State Street between Pershing Road and 54th Street alongside the Dan Ryan Expressway.-History:...
in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... - Rockwell GardensRockwell GardensRockwell Gardens is a public housing project located on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was the first public housing development in the United States to be constructed using both federal and state funds.- Construction and history:...
in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... - Stateway GardensStateway gardensStateway Gardens was a Chicago Housing Authority public housing project in the Bronzeville neighborhood of the South Side of Chicago, alongside the Dan Ryan Expressway, adjacent to the former Robert Taylor Homes. Stateway Gardens was home to people living in mid- and high-rise apartment buildings...
in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... - Henry Horner HomesHenry Horner HomesHenry Horner Homes was a Chicago Housing Authority public housing development. The development is located in Chicago's Near West Side at Damen Avenue and Lake Street near the United Center. The homes are named after former Illinois Governor Henry Horner...
in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... - ABLAABLAABLA was a public housing development made up of different public housing projects in Chicago, Illinois, operated by the Chicago Housing Authority. The name "ABLA" was an acronym for four different housing developments that together constituted one large site...
in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... - Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg in Washington, DC
- Mechanicsville CommonsMechanicsville, KnoxvilleMechanicsville is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, located northwest of the city's downtown area. One of the city's oldest neighborhoods, Mechanicsville was established in the late 1860s for skilled laborers working in the many factories that sprang up along Knoxville's periphery...
in Knoxville, Tennessee - Arthur Blumeyer in St. Louis
- Columbia Villa in Portland, OregonPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
- Oak Hill in Pittsburgh, PA
- Bedford Hill in Pittsburgh, PA
- Richard Allen Homes in Philadelphia, PA, 1992, $50,000,000 revitalization grant.
- Schuylkill Falls in Philadelphia, PA, 1997, $26,400,951 revitalization grant
- Martin Luther King Homes in Philadelphia, PA, 1998, $25,229,950 revitalization grant
- Mill Creek Homes in Philadelphia, PA, 2001, $34,825,000 revitalization grant
- Ludlow Homes in Philadelphia, PA, 2004, $17,059,932 revitalization grant
- Bluegrass-Aspendale Housing Project and Sugar Mill Apartments in Lexington, KentuckyLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
- Liberty Green and Park DuVallePark DuvallePark DuValle is a neighborhood southwest of downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Its boundaries are I-264 to the west, the Norfolk Southern Railway tracks to the north, Cypress Street to the east, and Bells Lane and Algonquin Parkway to the south...
in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, KentuckyLouisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
: - North Beach, the Western Addition, Hayes Valley, Bernal Heights, and Valencia Gardens in the Mission District in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
: - Chestnut Linden Court in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
- Desire ProjectsDesire ProjectsDesire Projects is a neighborhood and a former housing project of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Bywater District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Higgins Boulevard to the north, Alvar Street to the east, Florida Boulevard to the south and Desire...
in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population... - St. Thomas Projects in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
- John Henry Hale Homes in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
- Sam Levy Homes in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
- CityWest in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
- First Ward in Charlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
Further reading
- Dizikes, Peter, "Chicago hope: Ambitious attempt to help the city’s poor by moving them out of troubled housing projects is having mixed results, MIT study finds", MIT News, MIT News Office, March 3, 2011
External links
- United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Official Website
- The Urban Institute Official Website
- From Hope VI to Hope Sick? from Dollars & SenseDollars & SenseDollars & Sense is a magazine dedicated to providing left-wing perspectives on economics.Published six times a year since 1974, it is edited by a collective of economists, journalists, and activists committed to the ideals of social justice and economic democracy.It was initially sponsored by the...
magazine - Hope VI Program Official Website
- Choice Neighborhoods Program Official Website