The politics of who is in charge may shift through the years, but our commitment as a nation to providing access to housing for low-income families should never change. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has an obligation to help these individuals, but subsidized housing is only as good as the effort put into it. The best example of how it can thrive and fail depending on its support system can be found in the greater Houston Area. Both Houston and The Woodlands host Project Based Section 8 housing, but how livable these properties are varies greatly.
Texas Housers is exploring the issues of HUD-subsidized housing from the perspective of the tenants. In Part 1 of a three-part investigation of recommendations we are offering, we inspect location and condition of this housing and the differences across Houston in how it is distributed.
What we wanted to explore and ultimately answer was 2 questions: is Project Based Section 8 housing in Houston segregated? And does the quality of housing vary by location? Over the course of several months in 2018, our research team conducted a number of field observations and comprehensive research accounting all of the Section 8 properties in Houston and The Woodlands. After compiling and analyzing all of this data, we arrived at the conclusion that yes, both the quality of housing varies by location and it is segregated.
In our report, “Project Based Section 8 Housing: Across Houston and The Woodlands,” we compare these two areas and our findings demonstrate that Black and White low-income renters face starkly different realities in Houston.
Read our report below:
PB8_Public_Report_10_23
