Housing and High-Quality Neighborhoods

Housing opportunity in high-quality neighborhoods provides the chance for people to be closer to the things they need

Transportation is closely linked to access to housing and high-quality neighborhoods. Part of the reason that transportation interventions are required to provide people access to opportunity is that some people were historically disenfranchised from living in high-quality neighborhoods. Part of the intent of the Section 8 program, now known as Housing Choice Vouchers, was to give households who receive support an opportunity to live in a better neighborhood and work to deconcentrate poverty. In order to better understand ways to deconcentrate poverty, the federal government undertook a 10-year research experiment to test the impact of vouchers on families living in high-poverty neighborhoods.

UCLA research on the effects of this program has measured both changes in employment accessibility in the areas those in the experiment moved to, and on the role of transportation in the success of program participants. Transportation analysis showed that access to automobiles among the program participants was linked to better economic outcomes, job retention, and higher earnings. For housing voucher recipients who want to live in suburban neighborhoods that might offer better access to high-quality schools or parks, automobile access provides the missing link between housing and employment. Part of the findings from the MTO program was that in search of better neighborhoods, program participants moved further away from jobs and job centers. However, these moves did not appear to have an effect on employment or earnings and this is explained by the strong contribution of human capital characteristics — education and experience — in predicting employment outcomes.

Another intersection of transportation and housing is in the relationship between transportation investments, most typically in the form of new rail stations, and displacement and gentrification. Given the additional accessibility value that a new transit station provides, this raises concerns around rising land prices which can lead to rent increases, speculation, and displacement pressure. This process can make neighborhoods with transit investments increasingly unaffordable for low-income households. Although transit networks alone may not directly cause gentrification, surrounding development near transit stations may trigger gentrification. Evidence from Los Angeles, however, shows an indirect relationship between new transit stations and gentrification. A range of factors determines the extent to which transit investments gentrify: government support, availability of developable land in the area, and built environment characteristics. Transit lines or a transit station alone does not spur gentrification. In this context, addressing gentrification will require housing policies that target rising housing costs in areas with transit investments.

Housing and High-Quality Neighborhoods

Housing opportunity in high-quality neighborhoods provides the chance for people to be closer to the things they need

Further Reading from UCLA Scholars