How did we get here? A Housing History Part II

This episode of Defining Affordable traces the shift in U.S. housing policy from the 1950s through the 1990s, as urban renewal and highway projects displaced low-income communities and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 sought to address discrimination. Robin and Jaime examine how the federal government moved away from public housing—citing its visible decline while overlooking chronic underfunding and often blaming residents—and pivoted toward vouchers and market-based solutions. The episode connects these policy choices to today’s affordability challenges and what our cities look like today.

Sources and Further Reading:

Housing Policy Overview

• A Brief History of Housing Policy in the U.S.
• https://nurseledcare.phmc.org/advocacy/policy-blog/item/641:a-brief-history-of-housing-policy-in-the-u-s.htm
• Federal Housing Assistance Programs (CRS Report)
• https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R41654.html

Urban Renewal & Displacement

• Mapping Inequality: Urban Renewal
• https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/renewal/#view=0/0/1&viz=cartogram&text=defining
• Urban Renewal StoryMap
• https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/20975b3e5ae244bdb4fccd7ce2f4714a
• Urban Redevelopment and Policy (Journal Article)
• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/107808749703300207
• The Battle of Chicano Park
• https://www.chicano-park.com/cpscbattleof.html

Highways, Infrastructure & Segregation

• Roads to Nowhere: How Infrastructure Built American Inequality
• https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/21/roads-nowhere-infrastructure-american-inequalityl
• How the Interstate Highway System Reinforced Segregation
• https://www.history.com/articles/interstate-highway-system-infrastructure-construction-segregation
• 4 Ways U.S. Highways Were Designed to Harm Black Communities
• https://www.cracked.com/article_30222_4-ways-us-highways-were-designed-to-screw-over-black-americans.htm
• A Forgotten History of How the U.S. Government Segregated America
• https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america
• Segregation by Design
• https://www.segregationbydesign.com/

Public Housing: History, Decline & Debate

• A History of Public Housing (NLIHC)
• https://nlihc.org/resource/public-housing-history
• Why Public Housing Was Set Up to Fail
• https://www.vox.com/policy/390082/public-housing-america-policy-failure-poverty
• The Sabotage of Public Housing
• https://www.homewardboundvillages.org/the-sabotage-of-public-housing-how-policy-choices-created-todays-crisis/
• Public Housing: What Went Wrong?
• https://shelterforce.org/1994/09/01/public-housing-what-went-wrong/
• The Pruitt-Igoe Myth and the Death Knell of Public Housing
• https://nhc.org/the-pruitt-igoe-myth-and-the-death-knell-of-public-housing/

Fair Housing & Policy Shifts

• Fair Housing Act Overview (HUD)
• https://www.hud.gov/helping-americans/fair-housing-act-overview
• What Is the Faircloth Amendment?
• https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/what-is-the-faircloth-amendment

Housing Outcomes & Research

• Family Options Study (HUD)
• https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Family-Options-Study-Full-Report.pdf