RACIAL AND LOCATIONAL PATTERNS OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS: A REPORT TO THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION

Transcription

1 RACIAL AND LOCATIONAL PATTERNS OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS: A REPORT TO THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION Dr. Paul B. Fischer Lake Forest College July 28, 1993

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is made possible by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ii

3 RACIAL AND LOCATIONAL PATTERNS OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS: A REPORT TO THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For many years Chicago area fair housing organizations and south suburban mayors and managers have complained about the Section 8 housing subsidy program administered by the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC). They argue that this program contributes to the resegregation of the south Cook County suburbs by disproportionately concentrating black Section 8 families in their communities. The housing authority responds that it is following appropriate federal rules and regulations and little can be done to change the situation; the locational patterns that exist are to a large extent a product of the economics of the housing market and the preferences of their clients The research described in this report attempts to address the arguments of both sides in an objective and analytical manner. The report begins with a description of the racial occupancy and locational patterns of subsidized housing in the Chicago suburbs, particularly in suburban Cook County. It then explores two alternative hypotheses frequently offered to explain these patterns; more affordable units in the south suburbs and the lack of any administrative mechanism that could change the locational patterns particularly for black Section 8 families. The HACC section of the report then examines the housing authority's administrative policies and practices that have an impact on these iii

4 racial occupancy and locational patterns and concludes with a proposal for a new affirmative counseling initiative. The report also includes a more modest study of the racial character of subsidized housing in the other 10 suburban public housing authorities in the Chicago area. Unfortunately limitations of time and expense did not permit an examination of rent structure or an administrative analysis in these other jurisdictions. The HACC Section 8 family program is overwhelmingly black and highly concentrated geographically with few whites and almost no hispanics. Over 70% of black Section 8 families live in the south suburbs. White Section 8 families are more dispersed as are Section 8 elderly, especially white elderly. When controlling for population differences between regions, concentrations of black Section 8 families in the south suburbs are even more extreme. There is a high degree of racial segregation, especially for black Section 8 families, many of whom reside in the mostly black south suburban census tracts. Almost all HACC public housing families are black. Three towns in the south suburbs have almost all public housing family units. The HACC public housing program is even more racially and geographically concentrated then the HACC Section 8 program, especially for black families, almost all of whom live in mostly black census tracts. The southwest region, although closest to the south suburbs, has the fewest HACC subsidized family households in either program. The locational patterns of Section 8 households cannot be explained solely by rent affordability differences between regions of suburban Cook County. Large numbers of iv

5 affordable two bedroom units can be found in all regions, especially in the northwest. Affordable three bedroom units are less plentiful in regions outside of the south suburbs but may nevertheless be found in significant numbers throughout suburban Cook County, particularly when compared to the number of three bedroom Section 8 families. A larger proportion of affordable units, particularly three bedroom, are used by Section 8 households in the south suburbs. Only a very small number are occupied by Section 8 households outside of the south suburbs so the potential supply of affordable units for the Section 8 program remains large in the other regions of the HACC service area. This is particularly the case for the southwest suburbs. The locational patterns of Section 8 black families may be explained, in part, by the lack of HACC administrative mechanisms to foster greater housing choice in areas outside of the south suburbs. Under the Gautreaux mobility program large numbers of impoverished black families from the Chicago inner city have moved to white areas of the Cook County suburbs. Particularly in recent years, the Gautreaux Program has been successful in placing many of its families in the northwest suburbs. In contrast to the regular HACC program, only a small percentage of Gautreaux families were placed in the south suburbs and in recent years the Gautreaux Program operated under a moratorium prohibiting south suburban placements. If Gautreaux placements are factored into the HACC data, it is likely that most of the HACC black families in the northwest suburbs were placed there by the Leadership Council. Excluding Gautreaux families increases the extent of concentration of HACC Section 8 black families in the south suburbs. The larger picture of subsidized housing in the Chicago suburbs follows similar v

6 patterns. Where public housing exists, as it does in the older cities like North Chicago, Waukegan and Joliet, it is mostly for the white elderly. But the black family public housing is again the most concentrated and most segregated. Section 8 family housing is more dispersed in more communities and larger proportions of black Section 8 families are in majority census tracts. But even with Section 8 there is significant locational concentration and segregation relative to the racial make-up of the jurisdictions. It is also important to remember that there are many poor white families, as reflected in the McHenry County family Section 8 program which is overwhelmingly white. Although hispanics represent a larger share of Section 8 families in a number of PHAs like Waukegan, North Chicago, and Joliet, overall they are severely underrepresented. HACC is by far the largest suburban housing authority, administering more than 50% of the over 18,000 subsidized households followed by Lake County, Aurora and DuPage County. If service area populations are taken into account, the comparative picture of subsidy effort across jurisdictions, defined as population per subsidized unit, changes dramatically. What stands out is the extremely small number of subsidized families in the DuPage County Section 8 program. The locational and racial concentrations of black subsidized families in the Chicago suburbs should be a matter of great concern. Suburban residency does not guarantee access to quality services, a safe neighborhood, or, most important, a dynamic job market. In one PHA jurisdiction after another, minority subsidized families are overwhelmingly in the poorest suburban regions or communities, far from the job growth corridors, like DuPage County, and other resources typically associated with suburban vi

7 living. vii

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Statement of Purpose 1 II. Sources of Information and Methodology 5 A. The Racial and Ethnic Makeup of Subsidized Housing 5 B. The Administrative Analysis of HACC 7 III. The Housing Authority of Cook County 9 A. The Section 8 Program 11 B. The HACC Public Housing Program 22 C. Explaining the Section 8 Locational Patterns: Two Alternative Hypotheses The "Regional Distribution of Affordable Units" Hypothesis The "Administrative Practices" Hypothesis 31 D. Summary Regarding the Racial and Locational Patterns of the HACC Subsidy Programs 39 E. The Legal and Administrative Analysis of the HACC Section 8 Program HACC's Legal Duty HACC's Administrative Practices 43 a. Lack of Motivational Efforts 44 b. Effects of HACC's Administrative Structure 45 viii

9 c. The MAP Program 46 d. Proposal For a New Affirmative Counseling Initiative 48 IV. The Other Suburban Housing Authorities 49 V. The Suburban Chicago Housing Authorities Combined 55 VI. A Note About Project Based Section 8 in the Chicago Suburbs 61 VII. Conclusions 62 Appendices One: Fair Market Rate Schedule for Six-County Area 66 Two: Population per Section 8 Household for Cook County Regions 67 Three: Racial/Ethnic Patterns in 10 Suburban Chicago Housing Authorities 68 A. Oak Park and Maywood 68 B. Lake County 69 C. North Chicago and Waukegan 72 D. DuPage County 73 E. McHenry County 74 F. Joliet 75 G. Elgin and Aurora 76

10 LIST OF TABLES AND MAPS Table Page One: Rankings of Towns by Number of Family Units for HACC Section 8 Program 14 Two: Regional Distribution of Section 8 Households by Race 16 Three: Race of Section 8 Families by the Racial Character of the Census Tract 22 Four: Below Fair Market Rent Units by Region 28 Five: Section 8 Units by Bedroom Size for the Six Regions 30 Six: Location of Gautreaux Families Since 1983 by County 34 Seven: Location of Gautreaux Families Since 1983 by Cook County Region 34 Eight: Location of Gautreaux Families by Cook County Region Since 1983 by Year 35 Nine: Service Area Population per Subsidized Units by Jurisdiction 60 Map One: Black Section 8 Families in the HACC Service Area 17 Two: White Section 8 Families in the HACC Service Area 18 Three: Black Population in Suburban Cook County 19 Four: Black Section 8 Families in the Combined Service Area 52 Five: White Section 8 Families in the Combined Service Area 53 Six: Black Population in the Six County Chicago Area 54

11 I. Statement of Purpose The Los Angeles riots remind us once again of the destructive consequences of severe class and racial isolation that characterizes metropolitan America. Most low income blacks and hispanics are confined to inner city neighborhoods with declining job opportunities and fiscally starved public services while higher income groups flee to the outer suburbs, taking their tax revenues and jobs with them. More than ever, where people live determines how they live, particularly for the minority poor, from the quality of their children's education to the accessibility of decent paying jobs. 1 1 See Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993) for an excellent discussion of the interrelationship between racial segregation and poverty. 1

12 The residential isolation of the minority poor is no accident. Numerous studies have delineated the crucial role played by governmental policies such as urban renewal and federal highway programs in creating and maintaining the segregated metropolis. 2 Of more direct impact are the subsidized housing programs, a major source of housing for the poor. For much of the past 50 years these programs have either reinforced residential segregation or acquiesced in its existence. 3 Within central cities, government housing programs accelerated the ghettoization of the black poor in the early post World War II period by concentrating public housing in minority communities and segregating the projects. In Chicago, the Gautreaux case 4, involving the Chicago Housing Authority and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as defendants, provided detailed evidence of high levels of racial concentration in public housing in Chicago imposed by deliberate governmental action. 2 See Charles Abrams, Forbidden Neighbors: A Study of Prejudice in Housing, Harper: New York, 1955 as one example of an excellent discussion of urban renewal programs and restrictive covenants and their roles in creating the black urban ghetto. For a more detailed look at government policy and creation of the black ghetto in Chicago see Arnold Hirsch, Making of the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, , Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, For excellent discussions of the impact of federal housing programs on the creation of racial ghettos see Robert Bullock, "Blacks and the American Dream of Housing", in Jamshid Momeni, Race, Ethnicity, and Minority Housing in the United States, Greenwood Press: Westport, 1986, pp and Len Hays, The Federal Government and Urban Housing, State University of New York Press: Albany, Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority, 296 F. Supp. 907 (N.D. Ill. 1969), respecting CHA; Gautreaux v. HUD, 448 F.2d 73, (7th Cir. 1971), respecting HUD. 2

13 But what about the suburbs where over 60% of the metropolitan population and jobs reside? 5 Is there extensive racial and ethnic segregation in suburban subsidized housing too? Are subsidized minority families largely confined to the poorer and more heavily black portions of the suburban metropolitan area, replicating the City of Chicago pattern of extreme segregation in subsidized housing? Are subsidized minority families living in the suburbs isolated from areas of job growth? For over two decades, under a number of different programs including public housing and Section 8 certificates and vouchers, housing subsidies have been used in the Chicago suburbs, administered by county and municipal suburban housing authorities. Almost 6,200 Section 8 certificates and vouchers as well as close to 3,000 units of public housing are administered by the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) in suburban jurisdictions. Another 9,000 households are subsidized in 10 other suburban public housing authority jurisdictions. There are also 6100 units of project-based Section 8 in the Chicago suburbs 6, bringing the total number of subsidized households in the non-chicago portion of the metropolitan area to over 24, Yet little data has been gathered and almost nothing has been written about the racial and ethnic character of these programs, or the location of their 5 For this study, the Chicago metropolitan area includes Cook County, Lake County (Illinois), DuPage County, McHenry County, Will County, and Kane County. 6 These project-based Section 8 units in the Chicago suburbs, which are not administered by a municipal or county housing authority are discussed briefly in Section VI of this report. 7 This compares to over 11,000 units of Section 8 and 30,000 units of public housing administered by the Chicago Housing Authority. 3

14 households. 8 With these concerns in mind the research described in this report was designed with two goals: 1. To describe and analyze the racial and ethnic character of subsidized housing families in the Chicago suburbs, including the racial composition of the occupants as well as locations of units by racial composition of census tract, paying particular attention to suburban Cook County which contains over 50% of the subsidized units administered by housing authorities in the Chicago suburbs To examine the administrative policies and practices of HACC that have an impact on the racial occupancy and locational patterns of subsidized housing within its jurisdiction. 8 The Cook County Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) required by HUD does delineate subsidized housing by program and race/ethnicity for communities defined by HUD as part of the "urban" county. Unfortunately, the 11 largest suburban communities in Cook County are excluded from the survey because they are defined as "metropolitan" cities and are not part of the CHAS jurisdiction. Census tract level of analysis is also absent which makes it difficult to make statements about the segregative effects of the programs, based on the CHAS data. 9 The primary focus of the research is on families rather than the elderly because studies indicate that racial segregation and locational concentrations have been a more serious problem for subsidized, particularly minority families, than for the elderly. White suburban communities seem to be more accepting of subsidized housing for the elderly. Also issues related to locational concentrations and isolation, such as access to quality schools or access to areas of job growth, are of greater importance to families. 4

15 Newspaper articles and south suburban officials had already described the HACC Section 8 program as locationally concentrated with many black Section 8 families residing in predominantly black areas. This research was designed to provide a more precise description of that concentration. It was also hoped that the research could identify policies to enable HACC to reduce locational concentrations in the future administration of its Section 8 program. Consequently, the project planned for an "action" phase, built upon the research, that involved negotiations designed to modify the operations of the Housing Authority of Cook County. 10 The negotiations and their results are discussed in Section III.E. of this report. 10 The negotiations were backed up by the implicit threat that one of the parties of the research team, BPI, would sue if the negotiations did not produce a satisfactory resolution. 5

16 The project results should also prove valuable to community activists involved in expanding housing opportunities for low income minorities. 11 In addition, HUD now appears to be seriously considering proactive desegregation housing strategies. For example, HUD has budgeted for a five city mobility effort, Moving To Opportunity, modeled after Gautreaux, for the next fiscal year 12. The research could reach a more receptive federal audience as this new focus on desegregation evolves. Finally, scholars in the field will find the research useful; it will be disseminated through conference presentations and at least one published paper. II. Sources of Information and Methodology A. The Racial and Ethnic Makeup of Subsidized Housing Dr. Paul B. Fischer, Department of Politics, Lake Forest College, directed the initial research phase of the project with the help of a team of assistants from 11 In Cincinnati, Dallas, and Chicago, information describing segregated conditions in housing subsidy programs was used to generate additional housing and other community resources for inner city neighborhoods as well as regional desegregation remedies involving the suburbs. As part of the Walker settlement in Dallas, for example, the City of Dallas committed millions of dollars to improve the physical surroundings and upgrade community services in the areas surrounding predominantly black public housing projects. 12 Moving to Opportunity, while modeled after Gautreaux, is different in some significant aspects. The focus is poverty rather than racial deconcentration so the target group is not confined to black Section 8 families and the target locations are defined in terms of income rather than race. As of this writing, not all of the criteria for the first year's program have been determined. 6

17 Northwestern University and Lake Forest College. The research included: * gathering data from every suburban county/pha on each of their more than 18,000 subsidized households, including address, race/ethnicity, family/elderly household, and number of bedrooms. * using 1990 census tract street indices and maps to determine the census tract for each subsidized unit. 13 * obtaining 1990 racial/ethnic census data for each tract in each of the 11 public housing jurisdictions. * comparing the racial/ethnic residential patterns for subsidized units to the patterns for the entire population in each census tract to determine the level and patterns of segregation in subsidized housing. * obtaining 1990 census data on rent levels in suburban Cook County to determine patterns of rent affordability. 13 HUD Form 50058, the Tenant Data Summary form for all PHA managed subsidized housing, no longer includes the census tract as part of the address information, this information having been eliminated during the Reagan administration. Census tract information is the building block for data gathering regarding race and location in subsidized housing; without it, PHAs cannot provide accurate information about the racial concentrations of households. In addition, there are no standard computerized reporting procedures and reports for all PHAs that include printouts by household and aggregates of households that include, town, census tract, racial composition of census tract, zipcode, race/ethnicity of household, family/elderly, number of bedrooms, and number of children. Only one PHA in the Chicago area, Lake County Housing Authority, was able to provide all of the needed data on one printout. The other PHAs found it impossible to provide all the information for each household on the same printout and few could provide any census tract information. In some instances, researchers had to visit field offices and gather the information by hand, one household at a time. Currently, there is no central place where this data can be accessed. As a result, gathering racial and locational information on each jurisdiction requires a separate and elaborate research project. 7

18 * obtaining data on the location of Gautreaux placements since 1983 to compare with the "regular" Section 8 Program operated by HACC. The housing data was gathered from the offices of local and county PHAs and the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities ( the "Leadership Council"), while computer ready census data was provided by the Metro Chicago Information Center under the direction of their demographer, "Rury" McSharry, who also created the computerized maps that are an important supplement to this report. B. The Administrative Analysis of HACC This phase of the project was the primary responsibility of Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (hereafter, BPI), especially Al Polikoff, Bob Jones and David Jacobs, and George Cole, executive director of the South Suburban Housing Center, one of the major fair housing organizations in the Chicago area. The legal and administrative research included: * statutory and case law research on "affirmative administration" responsibilities of PHAs. * research on HACC's administrative practices in its Section 8 program. * comparisons with an affirmative administration "model" based on the Leadership Council's administration of the Gautreaux Program. 8

19 Informational sources included newspaper articles, interviews with knowledgeable experts, HACC program participants, local and areawide fair housing agencies, municipal officials and the Cook County Planning Department, as well as HUD and HACC. An advisory panel was created to review the ongoing work and to discuss dissemination of the results. The panel consisted of key actors in government housing policy in the Chicago area including fair housing activists, municipal officials, academics, civic/community representatives, and a Section 8 client. It was organized and chaired by George Cole, who also acted as the project fiscal agent The members of the advisory are: Sharon Caddigan, Director of Planning and Zoning, Country Club Hills Derrick Ford, Staff attorney, Chicago Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Barbara Latiker, Section 8 recipient, Riverdale James Lewis, Vice President for Research and Planning, Chicago Urban League Ted Manley, Professor of Sociology, DePaul University Charles Orlebeke, Director, School of Urban Planning and Policy, UIC Aurie Pennick, Leadership Council for Metropolitan New Communities Michael Roche, Executive Director, Housing Coalition of the Southern Suburbs Len Rubinowitz, Professor of Law, Northwestern University Law School 9

20 Since a primary focus of the research is the administration of the HACC Section 8 program, the geographical perspective used in this report is the PHA service area, rather than political jurisdictions such as a county or municipality. There is a great deal of overlap, however, since many of the PHA boundaries are coterminous with county or town boundaries, but this is not always the case. 15 For example, the HACC service area includes most of suburban Cook County but does not include the Cook County municipalities of Oak Park and Maywood, which have their own PHAs. The body of this report is divided by service area, beginning with HACC, and concluding with a metro suburban wide perspective. III. The Housing Authority of Cook County The public housing authorities in this study include: Aurora Housing Authority DuPage County Housing Authority Elgin Housing Authority Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) Joliet Housing Authority Lake County Housing Authority Maywood Housing Authority McHenry County Housing Authority North Chicago Housing Authority Oak Park Housing Authority Waukegan Housing Authority It should be noted that a small number of the households administered by one housing authority may live outside the boundaries of that jurisdiction because of the "portability" of the Section 8 certificate. Several other housing authorities in the Chicago suburbs do not administer Section 8 certificates or public housing. 16 The HACC data described in this section of the report was gathered over an eight month period and should be considered a "snapshot" of the HACC Section 8 program as of June 30, 10

21 1992 and of the HACC public housing program as of December 31, For the other housing authorities, data was collected from October 1992 to June 1993, and should be considered a "snapshot" of their Section 8 and public housing programs as of June 30, Since those dates some households have undoubtedly moved while others have entered the respective programs, so the picture of subsidized housing presented in this report as of June 1992-June 1993 may have shifted slightly. 11

22 Cook County, with 5.1 million people, is the second largest county in population in the United States. 17 Reflecting the outward migration from central cities to the suburbs that has characterized post-world War II America, the population of the suburban portion of Cook County has increased from 20% of the county in 1950 to 46% in 1990, and now contains 2.3 million people. The relative increase in the population of suburban Cook County correlates with a parallel movement of commerce, industry, jobs, and tax base from Chicago to the suburbs. Consequently, suburban Cook County had 46% of the county jobs, as of 1989, up from 34% in Many of the communities in suburban Cook County epitomize the American suburban myth, affluent, well-kept, white bedroom suburbs with quality services, and superior schools. But suburban Cook County is more accurately characterized by the racial, economic, and social variety of its communities; from impoverished all-black towns such as Robbins in the south to white, working-class suburbs like Oak Lawn in the southwest, to integrated middle class communities like Oak Park in the north central region, to Winnetka, white and wealthy on the north shore; from bedroom communities to industrial suburbs. Most importantly for this report, it is an area beginning to experience significant racial change, with expanding black populations in many south and west Cook County suburbs, in some instances leading to resegregation and the emergence of an 17 Los Angeles County is the largest with over 8 million residents. New York City, the largest city in the United States, is made up of five counties. 18 Job, Housing, and Race in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, 1991, Table I. 12

23 incipient black ghetto in the south suburbs. 19 This is the HACC service area and the primary focus of this report. A. The Section 8 Program 19 See "Racial Change Takes to the Suburbs", The Chicago Reporter, Volume 22, No. 6, June 1993, pp

24 The focus on HACC derived in large part from concerns about the alleged segregative effects of the HACC Section 8 family program. For a number of years, south suburban mayors and managers as well as area fair housing organizations have complained that the HACC program was contributing to the resegregation of the south suburbs. Compared to other regions in suburban Cook County, a disproportionate number of subsidized minority families were alleged to be residing in the southern suburbs, and the housing authority was said to be doing nothing to remedy the situation. 20 Our research confirms most of those perceptions. 20 See "System Lumps Poor Together", Southtown Economist, June 7, 1992 and "Subsidy Clusters Burden Suburbs", Chicago Tribune, September 10, 1992, for newspaper reports discussing this issue. 14

25 The Section 8 certificate program, which began in 1974, provides housing subsidies for some low income households in the private housing market. 21 The HACC Section 8 family program is overwhelmingly black. Over 91% of the 4500 Section 8 families are black, while the suburban portion of Cook County is less than 10% black. 22 One of the surprises in the data is that only 1% of the HACC Section 8 families are hispanic in a service area that is 6% hispanic. Given the high degree of poverty among the fastest growing minority group in the metropolitan area, one might have expected greater 21 When an eligible household comes to the top of a public housing authority waiting list, it receives a certificate that provides a rent subsidy equal to the difference between 30% of household income, which the Section 8 household contributes to the rent, and the rent itself. For example, if the household income is $1000 per month, $300 will be the monthly household rent contribution. If the rent is $600, the subsidy will provide the other $300 per month. In the Section 8 certificate program there are rent limits for eligible units known as fair market rents (fmrs). Thus, the supply of available housing for Section 8 households is limited by the fair market rent structure which is set for each metropolitan area and sometimes for subregions within metropolitan areas. A more detailed discussion of fair market rents and their impact on the distribution of Section 8 housing in suburban Cook County is part of this report. Other criteria for unit acceptability include health and safety standards as well as the appropriate number of bedrooms for a given family size. During the Reagan administration, vouchers were added to the program, but for the purposes of this research the distinction between certificates and vouchers is not significant. (Unlike Section 8 families, voucher families may rent apartments at any rent level, but must themselves pay any "excess" rent above a standard set by HUD.) In this report both certificates and vouchers are referred to as part of the Section 8 certificate program. The 1974 Housing and Urban Development Act also created several other Section 8 "project-based"programs, including new construction and substantial rehabilitation, most of which are no longer operative. In these "project-based" programs the subsidy is "attached" to the unit rather than to the client household. A brief discussion of project-based Section 8 units in the Chicago suburbs can be found in Section VI of this report. 22 In contrast, the HACC Section 8 elderly program is 70% white. Section 8 may be divided into two programs using the HUD categories, one program designated as family and the other designated as elderly (which includes the disabled). When elderly households and family households are combined, 73% of HACC Section 8 households are black. 15

26 hispanic utilization of housing subsidy programs. 23 Given the small number of hispanics and other minority groups in the HACC Section 8 and public housing programs, this analysis is confined to black and white populations in this section of the report. 23 Research grant limitations of time and money did not permit pursuing this issue but the absence of all but a few hispanic Section 8 families in the HACC program warrants further investigation and should be part of a follow-up research agenda. 16

27 HACC Section 8 families, in contrast to elderly households, are concentrated in a small number of communities. Over half of the 4448 Section 8 families live in seven of 107 towns that have subsidized housing in the HACC service area, Harvey, Chicago Heights, Evanston, Markham, Riverdale, Dolton and Robbins. (See Table One: Rankings of Towns by Number of Family Units for HACC Section 8 Program 24.) Except for Evanston, all the towns with the largest number of Section 8 families are in the south suburbs 25. Some 68% of family Section 8 households and 71% of the over 4000 black Section 8 families live in the south suburbs 26. This is in sharp contrast with the white Section 8 families, only 41% of whom live in the south suburbs. (See Table Two: Geographic Distribution of Section 8 Units.) Only the 93 towns with Section 8 families are listed in this table. 25 Locating Section 8 families by zipcode provides another perspective on geographical concentration. Over 40% of family Section 8 households and close to 44% of black family Section 8 households live in just two zipcodes, (Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, Lynwood, Sauk Village, and South Chicago Heights) and (Harvey, Markham, and Phoenix). These zipcode areas are contiguous to one another and create a concentrated area of black Section 8 families. 26 The six regions of suburban Cook County were taken from the CHAS report, a document prepared by the Cook County Department of Policy, Planning and Development in 1991 that reports on subsidized housing in the Chicago suburbs. The towns that are included for each region were determined by this agency in consultation with local governments. The six regions are coded as follows: 27 1 North Shore 4 Central 2 Northwest 5 Southwest 3 North Central 6 South The elderly Section 8 households are also more evenly distributed by region although the south suburbs have the largest share (29%) and for black elderly the proportion in the south 17

28 TABLE ONE: RANKING OF TOWNS BY NUMBER OF FAMILY UNITS FOR HACC SECTION 8 PROGRAM RANKING REGION TOWN NUMBER PERCENT 1 6 HARVEY % 2 6 CHICAGO HEIGHTS % 3 1 EVANSTON % 4 6 MARKHAM % 5 6 RIVERDALE % 6 6 DOLTON % 7 6 ROBBINS % 8 6 CALUMET CITY % 9 6 PARK FOREST % 10 6 SAUK VILLAGE % 11 6 BLUE ISLAND % 12 2 HOFFMAN ESTATES % 13 6 FORD HEIGHTS % 14 6 RICHTON PARK % 15 2 HANOVER PARK % 16 6 LYNWOOD % 17 2 PALATINE % 18 6 MATTESON % 19 2 SCHAUMBURG % 20 6 COUNTRY CLUB HILLS % 21 2 STREAMWOOD % 22 2 ARLINGTON HEIGHTS % 23 6 DIXMOOR % 24 6 MIDLOTHIAN % 25 2 WHEELING % 26 2 DES PLAINES % 27 6 PHOENIX % 28 6 HAZELCREST % 29 4 LA GRANGE % 30 6 CALUMET PARK % 31 3 SCHILLER PARK % 32 4 SUMMIT % 33 2 BARTLETT % 34 3 FOREST PARK % 35 2 MOUNT PROSPECT % 36 3 BROADVIEW % 37 5 CRESTWOOD % 38 5 PALOS HILLS % 39 6 EAST HAZELCREST % 40 6 BURNHAM % 41 1 SKOKIE % suburbs is over 60%. (See Table Two: Distribution of Section 8 Households by Race.) 18

29 42 2 PROSPECT HEIGHTS % 43 2 ROLLING MEADOWS % 44 6 UNIVERSITY PARK % 45 6 GLENWOOD % 46 3 MELROSE PARK % 47 3 HILLSIDE % 48 3 BELLWOOD % 49 5 JUSTICE % 50 5 ALSIP % 51 6 SOUTH CHICAGO HEIGHTS % 52 6 TINLEY PARK 9 0.2% 53 6 LANSING 8 0.2% 54 2 BUFFALO GROVE 7 0.2% 55 3 MAYWOOD 6 0.1% 56 2 ELK GROVE VILLAGE 6 0.1% 57 6 SOUTH HOLLAND 6 0.1% 58 4 ARGO 6 0.1% 59 3 BERWYN 6 0.1% 60 3 RIVER FOREST 5 0.1% 61 5 CHICAGO RIDGE 5 0.1% 62 2 NILES 5 0.1% 63 6 STEGER 5 0.1% 64 5 WORTH 5 0.1% 65 5 OAK LAWN 4 0.1% 66 1 GLENVIEW 4 0.1% 67 6 OAK FOREST 4 0.1% 68 4 LYONS 4 0.1% 69 3 ELMWOOD PARK 3 0.1% 70 5 ORLAND PARK 3 0.1% 71 2 PARK RIDGE 3 0.1% 72 4 COUNTRYSIDE 3 0.1% 73 5 HICKORY HILLS 3 0.1% 74 4 BROOKFIELD 3 0.1% 75 6 POSEN 3 0.1% 76 5 ORLAND HILLS 2 0.0% 77 3 STONE PARK 2 0.0% 78 5 WILLOW SPRINGS 2 0.0% 79 6 FLOSSMOOR 2 0.0% 80 5 BRIDGEVIEW 2 0.0% 81 1 NORTHBROOK 2 0.0% 82 6 HOMEWOOD 2 0.0% 83 3 NORRIDGE 1 0.0% 84 3 FRANKLIN PARK 1 0.0% 85 3 HARWOOD 1 0.0% 86 5 EVERGREEN PARK 1 0.0% 87 4 RIVERSIDE 1 0.0% 88 4 STICKNEY 1 0.0% 89 3 NORTHLAKE 1 0.0% 90 6 CRETE 1 0.0% 91 4 INDIAN HEAD 1 0.0% 92 5 HOMETOWN 1 0.0% 93 4 HINSDALE 1 0.0% 19

30 TOTAL 4448 TABLE TWO: REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF SECTION 8 HOUSEHOLDS BY RACE Black White Percent of Total Family Elderly Total Family Elderly Located In: North Shore Northwest North Central Central Southwest South Total Units Disparities in the distribution of Section 8 families are even more extreme when population differences between regions are considered. For example, on this basis the south contains nine times more Section 8 units, 27 times more family Section 8 units and 32 times more black family Section 8 units than the southwest region. Although this comparison with the southwest represents the most extreme disparity in the county-wide distribution of Section 8 households, the south suburbs have a disproportionate share of Section 8 households when compared with other suburban Cook County regions. 28 It is surprising that the disparity is greatest in the southwest suburbs since the southwest 28 It is important to reiterate that the north central region does not include the Section 8 households for Oak Park and Maywood which have their own public housing authorities. If those households were included the distribution of Section 8 households in the north central region would look more like the Section 8 distribution in the northwest. 20

31 region is closest to the large black populations located in the south suburbs and has a socio-economic character similar to theirs. In fact, the northwest, one of the most affluent regions in the county, and far from the south suburbs and its black concentrations, has the highest density of Section 8 black families in suburban Cook County other than the south suburbs. The southwest suburbs stand out as the region most lacking in Section 8 households and represent an area of potential Section 8 placement. 29 Black Section 8 families in the HACC program are disproportionately concentrated in areas which are heavily black. In order to determine the extent of racial concentration, Section 8 families were categorized by the racial composition of the census tracts. 30 Of the 468 census tracts in the HACC service area, 306 or 66% have HACC Section 8 households. 31 Less than 3% of census tracts in the HACC service area have 29 For elderly households, per capita disparities are much less extreme. Comparing the number of Section 8 elderly in the south and southwest suburbs, for example, the per capita differential is only 3 times, although for black elderly the difference is almost 74 times. For other regions the elderly per capita disparities are, for the most part, smaller than the family disparities, when compared to the south suburbs. In fact, for white elderly the densities in the northwest suburbs are similar to those in the south suburbs. The data clearly show that it is the black Section 8 households, elderly or family, who are most concentrated in the south suburbs. 30 There are 486 census tracts in suburban Cook County with 306 containing at least one Section 8 household. The census tracts were organized into four categories of racial concentration using percent black from the 1990 census. The categories were defined after discussions with an urban demographer at Metro Chicago Information Center. The categories are 0-5%, %, % and over 80% black. In the text of the report, 0-5% black census tracts are called "least black" and over 80% black census tracts are called "most black". 31 Of the 486 census tracts in suburban Cook County, 18 are outside of the HACC service area, 12 in Oak Park and six in Maywood. Five of these tracts (all in Maywood) are over 80% black, two are in the 30-80% category (one in Maywood), 10 are in the 5-30% category and one is under 5%. For the purposes of the HACC analysis, shown in the text, these 18 census tracts are excluded. 21

32 over 80% black populations while 76% of the tracts have under 5% black populations. This is not surprising since the black population of the suburban county is just under 10%. If black Section 8 families were distributed randomly among all of the census tracts in suburban Cook County, then approximately 75% would be living in the least black census tracts while only 3% would be residing in the most black census tracts. In fact, only 15% are residing in the least black census tracts while 25% live in the most black census tracts. Putting it another way, eight times as many black Section 8 families live in the most black census tracts than would be the case if the distribution were random, while only one fifth of those who would be there randomly live in the least black census tracts. (See Table Three: Race of Section 8 Households by the Racial Character of the Census Tract.) For white Section 8 families the situation is markedly different. Over 60% of white Section 8 families live in the least black census tracts while under 3% live in the most black census tracts. The data indicate that Section 8 families in general, and black Section 8 families in particular, are disproportionately concentrated regionally and racially. Most of the black Section 8 families live in the south suburbs, which also contain most of the over 80% black census tracts in the HACC service area The single exception is Evanston which has one census tract with over 80% black population. 22

33 TABLE THREE: RACE OF SECTION 8 FAMILIES BY THE RACIAL CHARACTER OF THE CENSUS TRACT CATEGORIES OF CENSUS TRACTS BY % BLACK 0-5% 5-30% 30-80% % BLACK WHITE B. The HACC Public Housing Program To provide a more complete picture of subsidized housing in the HACC service area, the report also examines the HACC family public housing program and compares it with Section 8. Public housing dates back to the 1930s, although most of the HACC public housing was built between the 1950s and the 1970s. Large projects were the rule in the early years, but by the late 1960s, growing disenchantment with large projects led the federal government to shift to smaller scattered site public housing developments. However, HACC never built developments as large as those in Chicago, such as Cabrini- Green or Robert Taylor Homes Sixteen HACC public housing projects contain over 100 units with the largest at

34 units, located in Chicago Heights, compared to Robert Taylor Homes with over 4,000 units. Three HACC public housing projects have between 50 and 100 units, four between four and 50 units and 25 are one to three unit clusters. Eight of the largest HACC public housing projects were built between 1953 and All are in the south suburbs and in areas that were predominantly black when the projects were built and are overwhelmingly black today. Although we do not have data on the racial makeup of the projects in their early days, interviews with persons who resided in the areas around some of the projects when they were first built indicate that the populations were mostly black. Almost all of the units in these projects are currently occupied by blacks. Three are in Chicago Heights, two are in Robbins and three are in Ford Heights. 24

35 HACC family public housing is predominantly black and concentrated in a small number of mostly black south suburban communities. Almost 3000 units of public housing are operated by HACC; over 1000 or 35% are for families, compared to the Section 8 program where 72% are families. As in the Section 8 program, public housing families are overwhelmingly black (95%) while elderly households are mostly white (68%). Almost nine of ten family public housing units are in the south suburbs, none in the southwest suburbs, and 2% in the northwest, indicating an even greater regional concentration of family public housing in the south suburbs than for the Section 8 family program. 34 Section 8 families are, of course, more widely distributed by towns and census tracts than public housing families, which is not surprising, since public housing was usually built as multi-unit and multi-building projects. 35 Only 11 towns and 24 census tracts have public housing families compared to the over 100 towns and over 300 census tracts with Section 8 families. Three towns have 87% of public housing families. They are Ford Heights (40%), Robbins (25%), and Chicago Heights (22%). 34 The elderly regional distribution for HACC public housing is quite different with only 35% in the south suburbs, 27% in the north and 28% in the northwest regions. There are no elderly public housing units in the southwest suburbs. 35 Like Section 8, a large number of family units are in just two zipcodes, (63%) and (25%) but the concentrations are even more extreme. 25

36 As with most public housing authorities, the older public housing, much of it built and occupied in the pre-civil rights era, is more racially concentrated and segregated than the more recent Section 8 program of the nineteen seventies and eighties. In public housing, approximately 89% of black family units are in the most black census tracts, a level of extreme racial concentration much higher than that found in the Section 8 program where 25% of black family households are in the most black census tracts. 36 In summary, in both the HACC Section 8 and public housing programs, most of the families are black and most of these black families reside in the south suburbs, many in the few mostly black census tracts. Family public housing is highly segregated with most of the units occupied by black households and concentrated in heavily black census tracts which are found in three largely black suburbs in the south region. HACC Section 8 families are more dispersed, with a surprising number of black Section 8 families residing in the northwest suburbs, but as with family public housing most black Section 8 families live in a small number of communities in the south suburbs. By contrast, the southwest suburbs are conspicuously lacking subsidized households of either program. C. Explaining the Section 8 Locational Patterns: Two Alternative Hypotheses 36 Two of the suburbs with the largest number of black public housing families, Robbins and Ford Heights, have been predominantly black communities for many years. It is conceivable that other black public housing families live in areas that were once white but have become majority black in recent years. Unfortunately, it is difficult to do historical analysis of census tracts since the tracts change from one census to the next. 26

37 The Section 8 certificate/voucher program was created, in part, to "deconcentrate" low-income minority families. The Section 8 certificate program, relying on subsidies given to the family and units provided by private landlords, in theory, has a greater potential to provide expanded locational choices than the traditional public housing program. The Section 8 families are less visible and concentrated than public housing families and thus more "acceptable". They live in private housing, in a more "scatter-site" fashion rather than in identifiable public housing projects, and are frequently indistinguishable from their "market rate" neighbors. Yet the data described earlier indicate high degrees of locational concentration for HACC Section 8 families in the south suburbs and for black families in a few contiguous south suburban communities. Why do so many Section 8 families live in the south suburbs? There are a variety of possible explanations. They include issues of unit availability and supply, client preferences, and programmatic factors that relate to the administration of the Section 8 program. Many black Section 8 families lived in the south suburbs before entering the program and may feel most comfortable there, in predominantly black neighborhoods, which are also close to traditional black communities in the City of Chicago. Some apply for a Section 8 subsidy with the prompting of their landlords and expect to stay "in place" after they enter the program. Unfortunately, the research grant did not permit the extensive polling and interviewing of Section 8 clients and landlords that would be required to address these and other explanations of the locational patterns. Instead, two hypotheses were identified and tested that were considered important and practical. HACC has often argued that 27

38 many of its Section 8 families reside in the south suburbs because that is where most of the affordable units are located. One hypothesis addresses this claim by analyzing the distribution of affordable units in the six regions of the HACC service area. HACC has also asserted that it could do nothing administratively to change the situation. This claim is examined in a limited fashion by comparing the HACC family Section 8 program with the Gautreaux Program, which also places some of its Section 8 minority families in suburban Cook County, but only in white areas. The two hypotheses can be described as follows: (1) The locational patterns of Section 8 households can be explained, in part, by the supply of affordable housing which is primarily located in the south suburbs. (2) The locational patterns of Section 8 households can be explained, in part, by HACC's management of the Section 8 certificate program which has given a low priority to administrative practices that encourage minority families to look outside of the south suburbs. 1. The "Regional Distribution of Affordable Units" Hypothesis The potential availability of a rental unit for the Section 8 program is, in part, determined by whether the rent for that unit fits within the fair market rent (fmrs) 28

39 parameters established by the federal government. 37 In the Chicago area, HUD has established five fmr subregions, each with its own rent schedule by bedroom size. (See Appendix One: Fair Market Rent Schedule for Six-County Area.) Within suburban Cook County there is one fmr schedule for the northwest and north suburbs and another for the rest of the county. The two different schedules were established because rents are generally higher in the north and northwest regions 38. Approximately two thirds of over 102,000 two bedroom units, and an equivalent proportion of the 34,000 three bedroom units, in suburban Cook County are within fair market rents. This represents roughly 90,000 potential Section 8 units 39. (See Table Four: Below Fair Market Rent Units by Region.) TABLE FOUR: BELOW FAIR MARKET RENT UNITS BY REGION 37 On a yearly basis HUD establishes fair market rents for each metropolitan area and in some cases for sub regions within metropolitan areas by number of bedrooms. There are obviously other factors beside fair market rents and vacancy rates that affect landlord decisions about renting to Section 8 households. It is beyond the scope of this project to explore those factors but there is an excellent discussion in Leonard Rubinowitz, "Metropolitan Public Housing Desegregation Remedies: Chicago's Privatization Program", Northern Illinois University Law Review. 12, (1992). 38 Chicago is not the only metropolitan area to have sub regional fmrs. As pressures increased from fair housing organizations and civil rights groups to provide greater locational housing options, particularly in more affluent, white suburbs, HUD has modified its fmr schedules to fit differences in the potential availability of Section 8 units in different parts of the metropolitan area. For most of suburban Cook County the two bedroom fmr is $692 and the three bedroom fmr is $870. For the north and northwest regions, a 15% fmr exception, in effect since 1977, increases the two bedroom fmr to $796 and the three bedroom fmr to $ We are focusing on two and three bedroom units because they are the most typical family subsidized units. Larger sized units in the private rental market are in very short supply relative to need. 29