Euquant

Chicago Housing Authority

Client Request

For the last five years EuQuant has conducted a longitudinal analysis of the 26,000 who received public housing assistance from the Chicago Housing Authority between 1999 and 2007.The key research questions included the following: Did families relocate to better neighborhoods when the housing projects were demolished? Did they lose housing assistance? Did mixed income developments or vouchers improve self-sufficiency in comparison to public housing projects? From a benefit-cost standpoint, did the mixed-income-revitalization improve social welfare? Finally, did the school performance of 3rd and 5th grade students improve if their families used vouchers or lived in mixed income developments?

Euquant Solution

The analysis included longitudinal tracking of each family and the application of advanced econometric techniques to measure family and neighborhood outcome. The use of GIS systems was crucial to determining the impact of neighborhood environment on the families’ socio-economic status. The main focus was how mixed-income revitalization, Housing Choice Vouchers and public housing have affected family self-sufficiency.

EuQuant Deliverables

The analysis involved an assessment of the change in families’ economic self- sufficiency, housing status, relocation outcomes and the effects of the relocation on neighborhoods, and the effects of relocation on the performance of kids whose families received housing assistance.