How Effective are Residential Mobility Programs for the Poor?

CHICAGO, Ill. --- Media members are invited to attend a Northwestern University Institute for Policy Research (IPR) briefing Monday, April 30, at which national experts will present research on residential mobility programs designed to decrease segregation, reduce concentrated poverty and improve lives.

The event will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. on the fourth floor of Wieboldt Hall at the Kellogg School of Management, 340 E. Superior St., on Northwestern’s Chicago campus. Lunch will be provided.

In addition, the policy briefing will be webcast starting at noon, and video of the briefing will be permanently available on the website. Visit http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/ for details.

Tearing down high-rise public housing and moving poor families into mixed or higher income neighborhoods has been the impetus behind many residential mobility programs -- from housing vouchers to Chicago’s Plan for Transformation. The panelists below will present research on the success of these efforts and offer policy suggestions.


• “Why Segregation Still Matters: What the Research Says,” 
Lincoln Quillian, professor of sociology and fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University




• “Transforming Chicago? Crime and CHA Redevelopment,” 
Wesley G. Skogan, professor of political science and fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, and Susan Popkin, director, Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development, The Urban Institute




• “Housing the Poor: Families, Subsidized Housing Programs, and the Rental Market,” 
Stefanie DeLuca, associate professor of sociology, Johns Hopkins University




Northwestern’s Dorothy Roberts, Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law, IPR fellow and chair of IPR’s Research 
Program on Child, Adolescent and Family Studies, will moderate the discussion.