Problem or Not – 3,400 Public Housing Agencies

Image vs Fact

There are 3,400 Public Housing Agencies in the United States. Can some of these be consolidated? Can we reduce overhead, better allocate monies? Is there a standard how these are run?

We would like to see the entire system go through a major change. Is anyone else looking?

The following is from HUDUSER.Gov titled Image vs Facts – see

Since 1937 the Federal Government has provided families and individuals with low-cost housing through the public housing program.1 Currently HUD is proposing changes that would alter in fundamental ways the manner in which this program operates.2 Public discussion of this proposal and alternatives to it is greatly influenced by the mental picture of public housing that a person carries in his or her head. To some “public housing” is synonymous with crime and squalid living conditions, symbolized by projects such as Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago or Desire in New Orleans. To others it is the high-rise apartment buildings on the East River where thousands of New Yorkers live in safety and comfort and commute to jobs throughout the boroughs of New York City.

Actually the public housing experience takes many different forms. There are approximately 1.3 million units of occupied public housing managed by some 3,400 public housing authorities (PHAs). Public housing differs in terms of the people who live there; the types, location, and quality of the buildings; and the quality of the surrounding areas. This essay uses newly available data to describe the variety of the public housing experience.

Read the rest of the articke from HUDUSER.gov