Policy, perceptions, and place: An ethnography of the complexities of implementing a federal housing program

This dissertation examines the implementation of the HOPE VI federal housing program at a specific site located in Washington, D.C. I utilized participant observation techniques recognized in the field of cultural anthropology, including semi-structured interviews, focus groups, library and archival research, daily walks, and attending community meetings to guide this research. The site was the one of the first fourteen developments in the nation to receive a grant to demolish existing public housing structures and rebuild new mixed-income sites that resemble other neighboring homes to create seamless communities. Each HOPE VI grant mandates that monies also be set aside for a social service component to aid low-income residents living in the new developments. HUD hopes to reform public housing by changing both the physical and social aspects of housing policy. Housing policy, however, does not operate inside a bubble, nor is it static. Once implemented, it exists in both space and time. I explore the complexities involved in housing the poor in Washington, D.C. from the Civil War to the present and how these complexities have helped shape the physical landscape and ideological discourse surrounding low-income residents over time. I found issues such as race, class, gender, and age create inequities that are visible in the spatial ecology of residences throughout the District of Columbia. These inequities, then, interact with other structural forces including political and economic trends, local business development and community organization efforts---all of which affect the lived experiences of low-income residents. These residents live in a place where development projects surround them---projects that many in the city argue are vital for the city's prosperity. Unfortunately, with growth comes decay for those who do not have the means to partake in upscale urban living. HOPE VI is the only federal program that funds new housing developments for the poor. This dissertation demonstrates the nuances of implementing a HOPE VI program in space and over time and offers both methods and theoretical perspectives that will guide researchers and aid in evaluating future changes at the site as well as other HOPE VI projects currently under construction.