Subsidized Housing and Neighborhood Impacts: A Theoretical Discussion and Review of the Evidence

Abstract

This review evaluates the perception that subsidized housing results in negative neighborhood impacts by considering four commonly studied putative impacts of subsidized housing location: property values, racial transition, poverty concentration, and crime. The authors assess theoretical and methodological bases for discerning impacts and determine which study results inspire confidence. Research reveals a relationship between the presence of subsidized housing and both property values and crime in certain circumstances, with both positive and negative impacts, and suggests that the presence of subsidized housing does not lead to racial transition. Research on the impact of subsidized housing on poverty concentration is too flawed methodologically to permit conclusions. Future research must, among other steps, control for variability of impacts across types of neighborhoods, use data that distinguish between residents of subsidized and nonsubsidized housing, and take into account changing attitudes as well as the context in which housing is proposed.