New Orleans’ “Sophie’s Choice”

“You have a choice,” said David Gilmore, the private contractor the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development hired to oversee the New Orleans Public Housing Authority: “Do you serve 800 families in deplorable conditions or 300 in much better conditions?” Gilmore added, “I know what choice I would make.” Do you know what choice you would make?

Why does New Orleans have to choose? For a several reasons.  Before 2005, much of the public housing consisted of vintage 1930s units that had been deteriorating for decades, driving residents away. Then Hurricane Katrina came along, scattering even more residents from the projects. But, in doing so, Katrina created an opportunity for New Orleans to start over. The city’s 12,000 housing units were occupied by only 5,000 residents.

So the city reversed course—instead of continue to corral all government-funded housing in a few locations, it built new housing mixing subsidized and market-rate units in several different locations. Decaying projects have given way to town homes with ornate balconies and manicured lawns. Okay, so what’s the problem?

The problem is the city now has 3,500 fewer public housing units, and the waiting lists for the new units are very long. Normally, people who can’t get into public housing can get a rent voucher and live in a private unit. But the list for vouchers is long, too. Hence the Sophie’s Choice: “Shrinking budgets and lack of federal support have led housing authorities across the USA to partner with private developers and build mixed-income projects that are better for the community but lower the overall number of subsidized units.”