Are Housing Vouchers a Viable Policy Alternative?
This report examines the issue of housing vouchers in the current legislative context of converting current public housing units into portable vouchers. The report traces the origins of the voucher policy, from the very first housing policy discussions in the United States, to present-day legislative proposals. The report reviews experimental housing programs performed in the 1970s in order to apply lessons from earlier research to a case study of Dallas, Texas. The report contains an analysis of the Dallas housing market and the Dallas public housing authority, including the lawsuit brought against the housing authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on the grounds of institutional segregation. Finally, the report uses estimates of income elasticity of demand to help project the increase in demand for housing as a result of increased income obtained through vouchers in Dallas. The report evaluates the potential success for a voucher program based on the housi
