Home is Where the Heart Is…
GSU Sociology Professors Deirdre Oakley, Erin Ruel, and Lesley Reid recently published the following article, drawing from data collected in an ongoing project examining Atlanta’s relocated public housing residents:
Oakley, D., Ruel, E., & Reid, L. (2013). Atlanta’s last demolitions and relocations: The relationship between neighborhood characteristics and resident satisfaction. Housing Studies, 28(2), 205-234.
“Using data from an Atlanta-based longitudinal study following 311 public housing residents relocated between 2009 and 2010 as the city’s housing authority demolished its remaining public housing, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between changes in relocated residents’ satisfaction with home and neighborhood and the socioeconomic, racial composition, and crime characteristics of their destination neighborhood. Consistent with previous research, we find that residents moved to somewhat safer neighborhoods with less poverty than those of the public housing. In addition, we find that residents view their new homes and neighborhoods as improvements over public housing. However, subjective pre- to post-move changes in satisfaction are not driven by changes in neighborhood characteristics (i.e., reductions in poverty and crime), but rather by decreases in perceived social disorder and increases in community attachment. Thus, our findings challenge some of the assumptions of poverty deconcentration. Policy implications are discussed.” [from abstract]
The library doesn’t have this latest journal volume/issue, but this is your chance to try out interlibrary loan – the article will be delivered to you electronically, and typically within 1-2 days – it’s worth it!