Experts cast doubt on housing philosophy

Galveston County Daily News
Rhiannon Meyers // December 25, 2009

The new public housing philosophy of dispersing public housing residents across a region instead of segregating the poor in one city may not work in Galveston County, experts said.The federal government in recent years has pushed public housing agencies to spread housing over entire regions in an attempt to provide better opportunities for families lumped together in poor, crime-ridden cities with low-performing schools, John Powell, executive director of Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, said.

However, regional public housing isn’t successful without solid public transportation, an abundance of low-skilled, entry-level jobs and places where the uninsured can get health care, experts said.

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