Attempting to change behaviors and aspirations in a HOPE VI neighborhood through a phantom homeowners’ association

• Main Author: Corey Bunje Bower
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018-01-01
• Series: Cogent Social Sciences
• Subjects: development/revitalization; hope vi; low-income housing; public housing
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2018.1442121

The goals of Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere (HOPE VI) housing virtually mandate that property managers attempt to change the norms and behaviors of residents, but most studies of the program seem to avoid this subject. This study examines the transcripts from 23 residents of an established HOPE VI housing development to better understand how residents experience any efforts of management to change their behaviors and aspirations. Based on their responses, residents clearly believe that management has, indeed, enacted rules and procedures designed to change behaviors and aspirations. Residents experienced these actions as paternalistic, and many of the rules resemble those enacted by homeowners’ associations. Reactions to these rules are mixed, but residents tended to appreciate many of the results of these efforts (e.g., clean and quiet surroundings), and, overall, interviewees tended to focus more on positive experiences than negative ones.