Mixed-income developments and low rates of return: insights from relocated public housing residents in Chicago

In the largest poverty deconcentration effort in any city in the US, all high-rise public housing family developments in Chicago have been demolished and are being replaced by mixed-income developments. Advocates for public housing residents have worked hard to negotiate a “right to return” to the new mixed-income developments. Yet, as in other cities across the country, the rates of return to the new developments have been very low. Little is understood about residents' perceptions of their options or the factors that drive their relocation decisions. This article examines relocation decisions using data from in-depth interviews with a panel of relocating residents and a sample of “returners” at three mixed-income developments in Chicago. Our findings about relocation decisions include the relevance of attachment to people and place, challenges to the notion of resident “choice,” conceptions about the anticipated benefits of mixed-income communities that refute popular theories about the value of higher-income neighbors, and anticipated trade-offs and risks associated with a move to a mixed-income development.