Segregation in Federally Subsidized Low-Income Housing in the United States

the population described as ill housed. Between 1941 and 1945, the supply of subsidized housing units grew more rapidly because of wartime exigencies. Many of these units were liquidated or demolished in the immediate post-war period, thus removing them from the stock of subsidized housing units.

During the early phases of urban renewal and redevelopment ( 1950-1962), clearance and relocation activities accelerated. Despite the rapid increase in the number of displaced families and individuals, however, the majority of those eligible for housing assistance were not rehoused by the federal program.

During the modern period of low-income housing, the physical reorganization of the central city had generally been achieved. Low-income residents of areas inside the business districts and nearby areas had in large part been relocated elsewhere in the city. The challenge of the era that needed to be met with the help of the federal housing program was how to expand and rationally utilize the segment of the private housing market serving low-income people. New housing programs, each heavily dependent on private landlords and developers (both previously considered the principal culprits in the housing impasse of the poor) were successively introduced. Although the redesigned programs were expected to increase the supply of housing for the poor in nonimpacted areas at a lower cost to the government, no more than 7 percent of the eligible population received housing assistance.

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