Mixed-income neighborhoods reduce poverty rates and create economic potential for generations to come

City Observatory analyzes the effects of a voucher demonstration conducted by the Chicago Housing Association in neighborhoods transitioning from lower to mixed-income dispersion. Even though some displacement is bound to occur, either directly or indirectly as a result of gentrification, individuals displaced from voucher public housing on average moved 2 miles from their previous public housing location, yet received long term economic benefits and opportunities: 

“The results of the voucher demonstration illustrate that there can be large benefits from even modest changes in economic integration. The average household moved about 2 miles from their previous public housing location, and still lived in a neighborhood that had a higher than average poverty rate. Chyn’s results show the effects of moving from neighborhoods dominated by public housing (where the poverty rate was 78% on average), to neighborhoods that had poverty rates initially 25 percentage points lower, on average. Most participants still lived in neighborhoods with far higher levels of poverty than the typical American neighborhood. But compared to their peers who remained in high poverty neighborhoods, they enjoyed better economic results later in life.

“There’s a hopeful new sign that how we build our cities, and specifically, how good a job we do of building mixed income neighborhoods that are open to everyone can play a key role in reducing poverty and promoting equity. New research shows that neighborhood effects—the impact of peers, the local environment, neighbors—contribute significantly to success later in life. Poor kids who grow up in more mixed income neighborhoods have better lifetime economic results. This signals that an important strategy for addressing poverty is building cities where mixed income neighborhoods are the norm, rather than the exception. And this strategy can be implemented in a number of ways—not just by relocating the poor to better neighborhoods, but by actively promoting greater income integration in the neighborhoods, mostly in cities, that have higher than average poverty rates.”

Read the whole thing here.