Severely Distressed Housing Case Study

many as a failure and therefore, trapping tens of thousands of low-income families in unsafe neighborhoods. The Clinton Administration, in 1994, proposed to end almost all subsidized housing construction programs and transition those needing housing assistance to housing vouchers instead. The role that the federal government has taken in assisting the private sector in its profit-making ventures has created a lack of access to affordable housing for the poor. There are about 1.3 million public housing units in the U.S., however, this number is decreasing due to the number of run-down apartments that are being demolished and not being replaced (Heintze et al, 2006). The National Commission of Severely Distressed Housing, whose main purpose was to closely examine public housing, was to identify both problems and solutions to the housing issues. In 1992, the Commission determined that 86,000 of the 1.3 million public housing units were “severely distressed” housing and needed to be demolished (Brooks et al, 2005). The HOPE VI program would

They are like aliens in their own country, convinced that the existing institutions do not serve their interests and needs. Along with this feeling of powerlessness is a widespread feeling of inferiority, of personal unworthiness” (Barnett, 2016, slide 21). Originally, public housing was once a program that offered opportunities for individuals to improve their economic status, but over the last thirty years, the intent of housing policy has changed radically. Today, where we live plays a significant role in defining our social status of families, whereas living in public housing “exposes a central tension in American culture” (Aratani, 2010, p. 1110). The debate of the ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have-nots’ has been ongoing since the Colonial period in the United States. Historically, providing