The Voucher Promise: "Section 8" and the Fate of an American Neighborhood

Eva Rosen

Published by Princeton University Press 2020

The Voucher Promise

"Section 8" and the Fate of an American Neighborhood

Eva Rosen

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691189505

Overview
Contents

About this book

An in-depth look at America’s largest rental assistance program and how it shapes the lives of residents in one low-income Baltimore neighborhood

Housing vouchers are a cornerstone of US federal housing policy, offering aid to more than two million households. Vouchers are meant to provide the poor with increased choice in the private rental marketplace, enabling access to safe neighborhoods with good schools and higher-paying jobs. But do they?

The Voucher Promise examines the Housing Choice Voucher Program, colloquially known as “Section 8,” and how it shapes the lives of families living in a Baltimore neighborhood called Park Heights. Eva Rosen tells stories about the daily lives of homeowners, voucher holders, renters who receive no housing assistance, and the landlords who provide housing. While vouchers are a powerful tool with great promise, she demonstrates how the housing policy can replicate the very inequalities it has the power to solve.

Rosen spent more than a year living in Park Heights, sitting on front stoops, getting to know families, accompanying them on housing searches, speaking to landlords, and learning about the neighborhood’s history. Voucher holders disproportionately end up in this area despite rampant unemployment, drugs, crime, and abandoned housing. Exploring why they are unable to relocate to other neighborhoods, Rosen illustrates the challenges in obtaining vouchers and the difficulties faced by recipients in using them when and where they want to. Yet, despite the program’s real shortcomings, she argues that vouchers offer basic stability for families and should remain integral to solutions for the nation’s housing crisis.

Delving into the connections between safe, affordable housing and social mobility, The Voucher Promise investigates the profound benefits and formidable obstacles involved in housing America’s poor.

Author / Editor information

Eva Rosen is assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. She lives in Washington, DC. Twitter @eva_rosen

Reviews

"The Voucher Promise is impressive. With its compelling case studies, this book represents an important addition to the literature on housing vouchers."—David P. Varady, author of Desegregating the City

"Through a detailed look at a low-income, mostly black neighborhood in Baltimore, The Voucher Promise provides a much-needed evaluation of the aims of the Housing Choice Voucher Program. This book tells rarely heard stories of people living in precarious housing situations."—Michael Lens, University of California, Los Angeles

"Not only accessible, but also deeply moving, this clear-sighted book conveys rich, compelling details on an important, timely subject. Rosen offers impactful insights about the lives of Section 8 voucher holders and the private and public systems that shape their lives."—Japonica Brown-Saracino, author of How Places Make Us

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. PARK HEIGHTS: “A GHOST TOWN” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
Chapter 2. HOUSING INSECURITY AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
Chapter 3. “A PLACE TO CALL HOME”: THE PROMISE OF HOUSING VOUCHERS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Chapter 4. “NO VOUCHERS HERE”: THE CHALLENGES OF USING THE VOUCHER Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
Chapter 5. “A TENANT FOR EVERY HOUSE”: THE ROLE OF LANDLORDS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
Chapter 6. THE RECEIVING NEIGHBORHOOD: “NOT IN MY FRONT YARD” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Chapter 7. MOVING ON Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Chapter 8. CONCLUSION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	234
METHODOLOGICAL APPENDIX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
WORKS CITED Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
A NOTE ON THE TYPE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331