Public Housing HOPE VI: Resident Issues and Changes in Neighborhoods Surrounding Grant Sites

November 2003 Public Housing HOPE VI: Resident Issues and Changes in Neighborhoods Surrounding Grant Sites The public housing program began in the late 1930s and 1940s as a means to provide temporary housing for the working poor. By the 1960s and 1970s, public housing had become the housing of last resort. Over time, some of the nation's public housing became old and deteriorated, leaving residents to live in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. In 1989, Congress formed the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing (the Commission) and tasked it with proposing a national action plan to eradicate severely distressed . . .