Race and Space: Racial Experiences in Neighborhood Transitions out of Public Housing

Melody L. Boyd, Temple University

This paper focuses on the role of race in the experiences of participants of the Gautreaux Two housing mobility program. The program gave residents of Chicago public housing a voucher to move to more advantaged neighborhoods, designated as neighborhoods in which at least 76.5% of households were non-poor and 70% were non-black. Four waves of in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted between 2002 and 2005 with a sample of 91 families. A high percentage of program participants made secondary moves away from their placement addresses, and most of these moves were to less advantaged neighborhoods. I analyze the racial expectations and experiences of families living in racially diverse neighborhoods, and the roles that these play in families’ mobility decisions. I find that the majority of respondents liked the idea of living in racially diverse neighborhoods, and that racial concerns were not the primary factor in most secondary moves.