Brookings Press Blog

HOPE VI and the New Promise of Public Housing in America’s Cities

Book launch hosted by current HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and former secretary Henry Cisneros

Among lessons learned, HOPE VI has taught us that replacing public housing with vouchers isn't always the best option for displaced families. “Many of them ended up in new ghettos of Section 8 because they took the path of least resistance and because landlords were unscrupulous and piled people on top of each other to get the money,” said Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Bill Clinton. “In some cases we didn’t improve people’s lives as we could have done,” he added. Today, current HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan faces many of the same challenges.

On July 14, the current and former HUD secretaries teamed together to host a discussion on the next steps for urban revitalization and opportunity. Secretary Donovan announced new funding for the current HOPE VI program and outlined the future of Choice Neighborhoods.

In the new book From Despair to Hope: Hope VI and the New Promise of Public Housing in America’s Cities, Cisneros and co-editor Lora Engdahl document the evolution of HOPE VI, one of the most ambitious urban redevelopment initiatives yet. The authors also chronicle the major federal effort to replace desolate public housing with mixed-income communities, and discuss the lessons learned.

- Learn more about the book, From Despair to Hope

- Read articles on the event from CQ Politics and Next American City

The Geography of Opportunity Wins ACSP’s 2007 Paul Davidoff Award

Biennial award one of the most prestigious in planning scholarship

The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan America, edited by Xavier de Souza Briggs, has won the 2007 Paul Davidoff Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). Given every two years to the publication which most reflects Davidoff’s commitments and values, including social and racial justice, this is one of the most prestigious awards in planning and planning scholarship. Notably, this is the first time the award has gone to an edited volume, illuminating the importance of this still-relevant book.

- Learn more about The Geography of Opportunity.

- Learn more about the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning / ACSP.

Benjamin E. Lippincott Award

Brookings scholar Anthony Downs to be honored by APSA

Brookings scholar Anthony Downs will be awarded the Benjamin E. Lippincott Award at the American Political Science Association (APSA) annual meeting in Chicago next week. Downs will receive this award for his book, An Economic Theory of Democracy, which was published by Harper and Brothers in 1957. According to APSA, the award recognizes “a work of exceptional quality by a living political theorist that is still considered significant after a time span of at least 15 years since the original date of publication.”

Downs is the author or editor of several popular Brookings books, including the landmark Stuck in Traffic (1992), and the updated Still Stuck in Traffic (2004), as well as Growth Management and Affordable Housing (2004).

The Brookings Press will be exhibiting at APSA from August 30 to September 2. Visit us at booths 306, 308, and 310, where we’ll feature over 200 titles.

- Read APSA’s 2007 awards announcement.

- Learn more about Still Stuck in Traffic.

- Learn more about Growth Management and Affordable Housing.

- Learn more about APSA.