The Evolution of HOPE 6 Into a Demolition-First Program

The elimination of a rule that every public housing unit destroyed has to be replaced by a newly built unit was critical. That's what allows HOPE 6 to achieve a net reduction in the number of public housing units. The one-for-one replacement rule, which had been in place for a couple of decades, was seen as a major obstacle to redevelopment. Most displaced people moved to other poor and black neighborhoods; there wasn't much poverty deconcentration.