The Voucher Promise: "Section 8" and the Fate of an American Neighborhood

by Eva Rosen Narrated by Xe Sands

Overview

The Voucher Promise examines the Housing Choice Voucher Program, colloquially known as "Section 8," and how it shapes the lives of families living in a Baltimore neighborhood called Park Heights. Eva Rosen tells stories about the daily lives of homeowners, voucher holders, renters who receive no housing assistance, and the landlords who provide housing. While vouchers are a powerful tool with great promise, she demonstrates how the housing policy can replicate the very inequalities it has the power to solve.



Rosen spent more than a year living in Park Heights, getting to know families and learning about the neighborhood's history. Voucher holders disproportionately end up in this area despite rampant unemployment, drugs, crime, and abandoned housing. Exploring why they are unable to relocate to other neighborhoods, Rosen illustrates the challenges in obtaining vouchers and the difficulties faced by recipients in using them when and where they want to. Yet, despite the program's real shortcomings, she argues that vouchers offer basic stability for families and should remain integral to solutions for the nation's housing crisis.



Delving into the connections between safe, affordable housing and social mobility, The Voucher Promise investigates the profound benefits and formidable obstacles involved in housing America's poor.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Winner of the Paul Davidoff Book Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning

"Winner of the Outstanding Book Award, Inequality, Poverty, and Social Mobility Section of the American Sociological Association"

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177463605
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	07/14/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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