Coming home: Resident satisfaction regarding return to a revitalized HOPE VI community
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Over the past 50 years, housing advocates have aggressively lobbied for the deconcentration of pockets of poverty in urban areas. These efforts have been welcomed by those who seek to bring new life to these areas through the implementation of urban revitalization strategies, such as the introduction of new mixed use and income developments. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOPE VI program is based on these principles. Federal funds have been used to demolish public housing in areas of concentrated poverty to make way for mixed use development. While much is known about the effect of displacement on the original occupants of the demolished housing, little is known about the experiences of the residents who are able to move back to these revitalized areas. Employing a case study approach, this research seeks to understand the attitudes of the original residents of a public housing community in Beaumont, Texas, as they return to new housing opportunities on and in the vicinity of the redeveloped site. The findings of this five year study reveal a sense of optimism by the residents who have returned about the future of the slowly transitioning neighborhood. Specifically, they cite great satisfaction with the new developments and a strong belief that, because of the HOPE VI redevelopment, the neighborhood will eventually become more prosperous. The degree to which this optimism will be supported by actual neighborhood change is presently undetermined. 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
