project-based across houston section 8 and the housing woodlands · 2019-08-30 · glen is a...

TEXAS HOUSERStexashousers.net

Summary of Comprehensive Research

Project-Based Section 8

Housing

Across Houston and The Woodlands

2 Texas Housers, 2019

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYTexas Housers is exploring the issues of HUD-subsidized housing from the perspective of the tenants. In Part 1 of a three-part investigation of recommendations we are off ering, we inspect location and condition of this housing and the diff erences across Houston in how it is distributed.

Over the course of several months in 2018, Texas Housers conducted field observations and comprehensive research regarding each of the Project-Based Section 8 properties across Houston and The Woodlands. This research was conducted to answer two simple questions:

• Is Project Based Section 8 Housing segregated? • Does the quality of housing vary based on location?

The answer to both questions was resoundingly yes. Investigating further our research has found:

Roughly three out of every four residents in Project Based Section 8 housing throughout this region is Black, but 60% of The Woodlands based residents are white.1

Typically, these properties are segregated into deeply impoverished Black communities. The few properties that do not suff er in poor physical shape also have the highest concentration of white residents. More than 80% of the properties are located in neighborhoods where the residents live below the national poverty line, and half of those properties are located in majority Black communities.2

The physical quality of the housing ranged by location across the region and within Houston itself. Properties in The Woodlands averaged an 8 point higher inspection score than Houston as a whole, but Southwest Houston averaged almost a 20 point higher inspection score than in Northwest Houston.3

The properties in Southwest Houston, like The Woodlands, also have a higher concentration of white residents than any other area in Houston.

Houston properties average a 9% white population compared to The Woodlands at 60%. Neighborhoods in Houston that host Project-Based Section 8 properties are, on average more dangerous than 82% of neighborhoods in the nation, while properties in The Woodlands are in neighborhoods that are on average safer than 56% of communities in America.4

Houston’s properties are served by high schools that average a Texas Education Agency Accountability score of 69, compared to the average score of 90 that high schools in The Woodlands receive.5

Our research shows that Project-Based Section 8 properties vary greatly in physical quality, amenities, and necessary resources based on the location of a given property. It is clear that outside of The Woodlands, properties have been segregated into deeply impoverished and under-resourced Black communities. Those properties pose a much higher challenge to residents than those that are placed in wealthier, highly resourced communities like in The Woodlands. The properties between the two regions are separate and unequal, and the most vulnerable people in our society are paying the price.

1 HUD 2017 Picture of Subsidized Households

2 2016 American Community Survey 3 HUD 2018 REAC Inspection Scores

4 Neighborhood Scout Crime Report

5 2018 Texas Education Agency Accountability Report

3Texas Housers, 2019

4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

81216

introduction

the woodlands

houston

comparisons

20 conclusion

A note about how the data is organized in this report: Our Houston based research took place exclusively within the Harris County boundaries, so each of the maps in the report are limited to those boundaries. An overlay of the formal Houston city limits is on each map for reference. Additionally, we have chosen to discuss the data in the context of geographic quadrants instead of census tracts in the hopes that this makes the information more accessible to community members who do not regulalarly engage in data heavy research.


Project-Based Section 8 housing works, or at least it can. At Texas Housers, we have worked with families experiencing some of the worst quality housing that the program has to off er. With this in mind, we decided to capture the range of experiences in the area’s Project-Based Section 8 housing, to see if this was story for all properties or just for a specific few.

Over the course of several months in 2018, Texas Housers conducted field observations and comprehensive research regarding each of the Project-Based Section 8 properties across Houston and The Woodlands. The spread of properties is pictured in Figure 1. This research was conducted to answer two simple questions: • Is Project Based Section 8 Housing segregated? • Does the quality of housing vary based on location?

The field observations were designed to help us understand the resources and risks present in each neighborhood. Risks and benefits were considered by looking features such as: -Proximity to the highway -Localized crime scores -The quality of nearby schools -The physical quality of -Proximity to predatory payday neighboring buildings lenders -Proximity to grocery stores -The physical quality of the building -Proximity to parks The goal with these metrics is to understand how the neighborhood may or may not be contributing to systemic disadvantages that poor communities of color are already likely to face.

Everyone deserves the right to choose where their family will live. The operative word, however, is choice. If your only choices are deeply under-resourced neighborhoods that are already struggling then you are not being off ered a real choice. Likewise, it is not a real choice if the only options are wealthy neighborhoods that do not seek out or accept people from diff erent backgrounds.

Residents of Project-Based Section 8 housing are some of the most vulnerable in our society. When we see those subsidized properties being concentrated into poor, predominately Black communities, we need to take care to not stigmatize the neighborhood as being “bad,” and instead consider that the property is the magnified version of a community that is already facing systemic discrimination and has been relegated to the physical outskirts of the city and the city’s imagination.


According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there are only 29 “aff ordable and available” rental units for every 100 people in the state of Texas at extremely low-income. In the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland metropolitan area, there are only 19 such units for every 100, meaning there are roughly 202,844 extremely low income renter households, and only 37,786 available and aff ordable rentals to house them.1

Project-Based Section 8 Housing is an incredible resource the Department of Housing and Urban Development off ers to communities with lower incomes. The basic premise of the program is HUD gives subsidies to private landlords in exchange for the promise that they will rent their buildings to lower income residents. Tenants pay no more than 30% of their household income each month on rent, HUD pays the remainder of the rent, and the landlord is guaranteed to receive the full amount.

There is a long waitlist of people who want to be considered for housing choice vouchers, so private landlords are essentially guaranteed a permanent stream of tenants by reserving a portion of their units for this program. This program provides stable, aff ordable housing for low-income residents, guaranteed income for private landlords, and limited liability and eff ort required from HUD. It is the rare win-win-win situation. The caveat is, however, if the landlords who opt in fail to maintain quality properties, the entire balance of the program falls apart.

1 The 2018 The Gap: A Shortage of Aff ordable Homes Report


Data from 2017 Picture of Subsidized Households

PROJECT-BASED SECTION 8 PROPERTIES

ACROSS HOUSTON AND THE WOODLANDS

Figure 1. Map Illustrating the geographic concentration of Project Based Section 8 complexes

across Houston and The Woodlands. The majority of properties are located on the East side of

Houston.


There are 49 Project-Based Section 8 properties across Houston and The Woodlands. The Southwest section of the city is closest in

concentration to The Woodlands, and Southeast has the highest concentration of properties.


The Woodlands

$109,605 Median

Household Income

85.9%White

Non-Hispanic

4%Black

Non-Hispanic

6Project-Based

Section 8 Properties

8.2%Lower Poverty

Rate than National Average

90Average High School

TEA ScoreConroe ISD

White Population

Data from 2017 Picture of Subsidized Households, 2016 5 Year American Community Survey

Figure 2. Map Illustrating the geographic concentration of Non-hispanic white residents

who live in Project Based Section 8 housing, and the concentration of white residents in the

neighborhoods where they are located. The Woodlands stands out as having properties that are

located in majority white neighborhoods, while most other properties are located in majority

Black neighborhoods.


PProperty Name

AAvailable

Subsidized

Units

TTotal

Number

of

Residents

AAnnual

Household

Income (HHI)

By Property

%% Female

Head w/

Children By

Property

%% Black

Non-

Hispanic By

Property

%% White

Non-

Hispanic By

Property

%% Hispanic

of Any Race

By Property

Property

Inspection

Score

CCOPPERWOOD II 150 159 $13,583 1% 6% 75% 12%% 99 68 93

CCOPPERWOOD I 150 169 $13,108 1% 5% 80% 9%% 99 68 93

FAWN RIDGE 97 205 $15,657 52% 48% 29% 21%

HOLLY CREEK I 31 53 $13,786 43% 21% 68% 7%

HOLLY CREEK II 108 177 $12,888 35% 20% 68% 10%

WOOD GLEN APARTMENTS 151 351 $11,648 63% 49% 37% 15%

Property Name

PProperty

Inspection

Score

TTotal

Crime

Index (100

is safest)

By Census

Tract

HHigh School

Accountability

Score

MMedian Income

By Census Tract

%% Black Non-

Hispanic By

Census Tract

%% of Households

Below Poverty

Line By Census

Tract

COPPERWOOD II 150 159 $13,583 1% 6% 75% 12% 99 68 993 40,213$ 9% 26%

COPPERWOOD I 150 169 $13,108 1% 5% 80% 9% 99 68 993 40,213$ 9% 11.9%

88 51 90 54,967$ 13% 4.2%

91 74 90 98,224$ 3% 4.2%

92 74 79 98,224$ 3% 4.2%

85 68 93 40,213$ 9% 11.9%

PProperty Name

Available

Subsidized

Units

CCOPPERWOOD III 150 159 $13,583 1% 6% 75% 12% 99 68 93

CCOPPERWOOD II 150 169 $13,108 1% 5% 80% 9% 99 68 93

FAWN RIDGE

HOLLY CREEK I

HOLLY CREEK II

WOOD GLEN APARTMENTS

Figure 3. Tables summarizing data about Project-Based Section 8 properties located in The

Woodlands. The data concerns the properties themselves and the census tracts in which they

are located. Bolded properties indicate that they are exclusively for seniors.


If you live in Project-Based Section 8 housing in the Greater Houston area, you would be quite fortunate to live in a property in the master-planned exurb, The Woodlands.

For example: Holly Creek, in the Woodlands, is a beautifully kept apartment complex with a pool; Wood Glen is a well-landscaped property with a shaded playground; Copperwood is a spacious property with private balconies for each apartment. The average family living in any of these properties pays $296 a month in rent, with HUD contributing approximately $761 a month.1 The Woodlands hosts several models of success for the Project-Based Section 8 program. These properties are maintained in much better condition than those in Houston, and average a REAC inspection score of 92, only 8 points less than a perfect score.2 The neighborhoods in which they are located are on average about 655% safer than the typical property in Houston. To put it another way, you are less likely to be a victim of violent or property crime here than in 56% of all neighborhoods across America.3

These are also good environments in which to be a child. None of the buildings are in close proximity to the highway, and all are located away from major roadways, meaning that cars aren’t driving as quickly when they approach the property. The playgrounds in the properties are fenced off in shaded areas that are surrounded by grass and wood-chips. High school students attend either The Woodlands High School or College Park High School, both of which received over a 92 out of 100 in the 2018 Texas Education Agency Accountability Report. These properties are in safer neighborhoods with access to good supporting resources.

Figure 2. illustrates the racial disparity of the neighborhoods where properties are located, and the racial concentration within the properties themselves. In The Woodlands, approximately 68% of the properties’ residents are non-hispanic whites, and they live in neighborhoods that are more than 75% white. The city of Houston has a higher population of Black people, but this does not explain why there are no majority Black properties in majority white neighborhoods.

The recent protest by wealthy white residents against the construction of an aff ordable housing complex in The Heights does, however, explain the attitude of rich neighborhoods against poor people of color who would move in and use public resources that they do not want to share.4


2 HUD 2018 REAC Inspection Scores 3 Neighborhood Scout Crime Report

4 Sarnoff , N. (2019, March 6). Prospects dim for aff ordable housing project in the Heights. The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/

real-estate/article/Prospects-dim-for-aff ordable-housing-project-in-13668677.php

$$$


Average Project-Based Section 8 Household in HoustonBlack Non-HispanicSingle Mother Living with Children25-49 Years Old

$10,008 Median Household IncomeMajority Black Neighborhood Average Neighborhood HH Income of $33,816

One Bedroom Apartment318 People Average Property Size84 Average Property Inspection ScoreAverage 90 High School Score

Average Project-Based Section 8 Household in The Woodlands

White Non-HispanicSingle Woman62+ Years Old

Annual Household Income $13,335Majority White Neighborhood

Average Neighborhood HH Income of $64,084

Two Bedroom ApartmentAverage Property Size 186 People

Average Property Inspection Score 92 Average High School Score 69

$$$

Average Project-Based Section 8 HouseholdSoutheast

Black Non-HispanicSingle Mother Living with Children25-49 Years Old

$8,045 Median Household IncomeMajority Black Neighborhood $25,919 Average Neighborhood HH Income

Two Bedroom Apartment404 People Average Property Size 82 Average Property Inspection Score 67 Average High School Score

Average Project-Based Section 8 Household in Southwest Houston

Black Non-HispanicSingle Mother Living with Children

25-49 Years Old

$10,853 Annual Household IncomeMajority White Neighborhood

Average Neighborhood HH Income of $32,927

Two Bedroom ApartmentAverage Property Size 266 People

Average Property Inspection Score 93Average High School Score 72

Figure 4. Infographics illustrating the diff erence between the average residents in Project-Based

Section 8 housing in Houston and The Woodlands

Figure 5. Infographics illustrating the diff erence between the average residents in Project-Based

Section 8 housing in Southwest Houston and Southeast Houston


Houston

$49,399 Household

Income

58.5%White

Non-hispanic

22.9%Black

Non-hispanic

43Project-Based

Section 8 Properties

8.9%Higher Poverty

Rate than National Average

69Average High School

TEA ScoreHouston Schools


Black Population

Figure 6. Map Illustrating the geographic concentration of Non-hispanic Black residents

who live in Project Based Section 8 housing, and the concentration of Black residents in the

neighborhoods where they are located.


PProperty Name

SSubsidized

Units

Available TTotal Number of Residents

AAverage

Annual

HHI

%% Female

Head W/

Children By

Property

%% Black Non-

Hispanic By

Property

%% Asian or

Pacific

Islander By

Property

%% White

Non-

Hispanic By

Property

%%

Hispanic

of Any

Race By

Property

%% 1

Bedroom

Apts

MMost

Recent

Inspection

Score By

Property

TTotal Crime

Index (100

is safest)

HHigh School

Accountability

Score

MMedian

Income By

Tract

%% Black Non-

Hispanic By

Census Tract

%% Households

Below Poverty

Line By Census

Tract

AANNA DUPREE TERRACE 150 154 $11,136 1% 96% 1% 3% 1% 98% 95 4 772 $9,015 92% 44%

ARBOR COURT 231 462 $7,433 64% 95% 0% 1% 3% 30% 70 1 72 $18,962 51% 83%

BELLFORT PARK 63 129 $13,517 48% 75% 1% 3% 22% 42% 98 23 67 $59,955 7.1% 26%

BELLFORT VILLAGE 56 106 $12,653 35% 56% 1% 11% 33% 56% 86 4 70 $32,625 19% 33%

CLEME MANOR 284 574 $8,513 61% 86% 1% 4% 9% 11% 72 0 52 $28,194 54% 83%

COOL WOOD OAKS 168 203 $7,610 47% 73% 1% 1% 26% 66% 91 24 72 $37,804 24% 0%

DYERSDALE VILLAGE 32 57 $9,783 48% 97% 1% 1% 0% 1% 65 11 58 $32,345 72% 24%

EEVERGREEN COMMONS 72 83 $9,882 1% 18% 11% 7% 64% 100% 99 9 774 $30,674 20.3% 22%

GARDEN CITY 252 770 $7,014 73% 79% 1% 1% 6% 6% 74 18 83 $40,439 41% 34%

GGOLDBERG B'NAI B'RITH TOWERS 150 191 $9,050 1% 4% 57% 32% 5% 96% 97 22 667 $30,885 44% 19%

GULF COAST ARMS 160 474 $11,436 73% 96% 1% 1% 4% 1% 94 7 49 $28,679 78% 33%

HAVERSTOCK HILLS PHASE II 646 1154 $7,050 44% 95% 1% 1% 3% 62% 83 3 76 $18,076 68% 24%

HHEIGHTS HOUSE 148 144 $11,713 1% 13% 1% 36% 30% 94% 85 20 779 $85,259 0.5% 38%

HHEIGHTS TOWERS HOUSTON 64 65 $11,344 1% 6% 1% 56% 38% 100% 90 74 990 $98,224 3% 4.2%

KINGS ROW APARTMENTS 180 551 $7,417 83% 93% 1% 2% 5% 11% 93 4 72 $9,015 92% 16%

LLAKEVIEW PLACE 78 95 $10,749 1% 1% 68% 16% 11% 100% 94 18 667 $39,680 3% 16%

LIGHTHOUSE LIVING CENTER I 38 46 $10,542 5% 38% 1% 38% 24% 70% 99 5 . $32,371 23% 20%

LIGHTHOUSE LIVING CENTER II 39 46 $10,853 3% 38% 3% 26% 31% 72% 99 9 74 $30,674 20% 38%

LONG DRIVE TOWNHOMES 100 287 $11,636 54% 83% 2% 1% 15% 26% 91 17 80 $26,970 11% 83%

MISSIONARY VILLAGE APTS 160 486 $7,689 77% 92% 1% 1% 2% 15% 87 2 50 $30,839 64% 32%

NORTHLINE POINT APARTMENTS 103 351 $8,849 61% 91% 1% 1% 1% 82% 47 7 50 $35,893 78% 28%

NORTH MACGREGOR ARMS APTS 63 142 $10,034 62% 100% 1% 1% 1% 81% 82 3 72 $26,460 11% 39%

OOAK HAVEN APARMENTS 71 81 $10,589 1% 11% 29% 25% 25% 100% 96 20 776 $46,277 19% 16%

PALAMINO PLACE 178 520 $12,182 68% 54% 1% 2% 39% 9% 95 22 77 $54,469 55% 60%

PPILGRIM SENIOR CITIZEN HOUSING 120 138 $10,140 1% 47% 1% 23% 28% 94% 89 9 559 $23,457 8.1% 22%

PINES OF WOODFOREST 54 121 $13,357 45% 77% 1% 13% 9% 45% 65 17 77 $51,337 40% 9%

ROYAL PALMS 125 204 $6,006 48% 96% 1% 1% 2% 62% 64 6 50 $40,000 81% 33%

SCOTT PLAZA APARTMENTS 105 274 $7,487 82% 97% 1% 2% 0% 1% 81 4 72 $9,015 92% 11%

SETTEGAST HEIGHTS 200 560 $9,066 68% 93% 1% 1% 5% 16% 87 7 49 $22,071 75% 20%

SILVER GLEN 160 440 $7,823 75% 97% 1% 1% 3% 23% 92 5 49 $21,875 56% 30%

SSOUTH HOUSTON VISTA APARTMENTS 445 48 $9,991 1% 2% 2% 7% 87% 100% 95 16 773 $34,909 16% 38%

SOUTH LAKE VILLAS APARTMENTS 200 474 $12,287 69% 65% 1% 7% 25% 19% 89 41 78 $41,118 26% 48%

ST.JAMES VILLAGE 149 316 $10,418 57% 94% 1% 1% 4% 33% 85 12 77 $38,021 52% 22%

STERLINGSHIRE 163 374 $8,468 61% 95% 1% 1% 3% 38% 63 11 58 $32,345 72% 31%

SUNFLOWER TERRACE 160 433 $10,008 67% 89% 1% 1% 9% 13% 95 5 72 $21,950 71% 15%

TTELEPHONE APARTMENTS 200 215 $10,555 1% 63% 6% 8% 22% 90% 98 14 880 $37,425 35% 22%

COPPERTREE 263 495 $8,005 45% 87% 7% 0% 4% 58% 92 3 69 $40,439 41% 38%

TTHE PINEMONT 128 143 $11,101 1% 24% 32% 26% 18% 97% 66 20 775 $28,411 22% 38%

VILLA AMERICANA 258 727 $7,101 80% 94% 1% 1% 6% 16% 88 10 80 $38,091 81% 50%

W. LEO DANIELS TOWERS 99 92 $10,358 1% 89% 1% 1% 10% 100% 90 4 72 $23,715 18% 5%

WOODLAND CHRISTIAN TOWER 126 71 $9,980 1% 23% 4% 29% 43% 100% 10 7Figure 7. A table summarizing data about Project-Based Section 8 properties in Houston. The

data concerns the properties themselves and the census tracts in which they are located.

Bolded properties indicate that they are exclusively for seniors.

*An earlier version of this report transposed the inspection scores, crime index scores, and the Asian population percent-

age between Northline Point and MacGregor Arms. These errors have now been corrected.

Data from 2017 Picture of Subsidized Households, 2016 5 Year American Community Survey, Neighborhood Scout Crime

Reports, 2018 TEA Accountability Scores

*

*


Over the Harris County boundary line in Houston, however, subsidized housing conditions range from great to dangerously substandard.

In Project Based-Section 8 properties in the Woodlands, the typical racial composition is at least 68% white, as opposed to 2% in Houston as a whole.1 In fact, this disparity in the quality of housing can be tracked citywide when comparing buildings with disproportionately white populations. Approximately 86% of the of 50 properties between Houston and The Woodlands are located in census tracts where more than 75% of the local population is Black.2

Nationwide, the poverty rate is 12.3%, yet only one of the properties in the Woodlands is located in a neighborhood with a rate higher than that average. Compare that to Houston, where around 80% of the complexes are located in neighborhoods that exceed the national poverty average.

This pattern of concentrating properties in highly impoverished neighborhoods is illustrated on the next page. The few properties that don’t exceed the average also have disproportionately lower numbers of Black residents.

The high schools zoned to the Houston properties average a score of 69, or a D.3 Neighborhood Scout gives an average violent crime score of 8 out of 100 to the properties across Houston, which means that the properties are located in neighborhoods that are more dangerous than 92% of the neighborhoods across the country.4

Overwhelmingly, the narrative of Project-Based Section 8 housing in Houston is that poor families are only given the choice to live in neighborhoods that are in crisis.

The pattern of substandard housing is clear. Roughly 61% of all available Project-Based Section 8 housing is located on the East side of Houston, with the next highest concentration falling in the Northwest section of the city. Notably, properties in Southwest Houston, are located in neighborhoods that have a median Black population of 37%, which is substantially lower than the rest of the city.1 Those properties, also average a property inspection score almost 11 points higher than every other region in the city.

While senior properties are in better condition than family facilities across the city (with a few exceptions in Northwest Houston), Southwest Houston still outperforms every other section of Houston in each of the observed housing qualities. Living in this corner of the city approaches the quality of living in The Woodlands in many regards, and seems to indicate that landlords in better resourced neighborhoods also maintain safer, better quality properties.


2 HUD 2018 REAC Inspection Scores 3 Neighborhood Scout Crime Report

4 Sarnoff , N. (2019, March 6). Prospects dim for aff ordable housing project in the Heights. The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/

real-estate/article/Prospects-dim-for-aff ordable-housing-project-in-13668677.php


82% of the Project-Based Section 8 properties are located in neighborhoods with

poverty rates above the national average

Figure 8. A map illustrating the income disparity between Project-Based Section 8 residents

and the neighborhoods in which they live. In Houston, properties are segregated into poor

communities.



The surprising fact of the matter is HUD spends more money paying landlords for substandard housing in lower income neighborhoods than they do for the better quality properties in neighborhoods with higher property values.

The properties in Northwest sections of the city received the lowest average inspection scores across Houston and The Woodlands. While that region earned a median score of 76, HUD typically contributes an average of $812 per month to be added to the tenants’ contributions for their rent1. HUD spends an average of $620 per month for each tenant in the properties with the ten highest inspection scores. The scores show that 80% of the highest scoring properties are split between The Woodlands and Southwest Houston. At the same time, the median government contribution to the ten worst performing properties is 12% more per month per tenant. The only section of the Houston where the HUD spends significantly less on a monthly basis than it does in The Woodlands is the Southwest. It is also worth noting that while all of the residents in subsidized housing are living below the poverty line, there is more than a 60% gap in the median income separating the residents in The Woodlands from the Eastern half of Houston. This is further reinforced by the disproportiantely impoverished communities in which the properties are located. In 2016, the average rate of families living in poverty in Houston was about 19%, but 79% of the Project-Based Section 8 properties in the city are located in neighborhoods that exceed that rate. 2 This means that out of 43 properties, there are only 9 choices that aren’t in disproprotionately poor neighborhoods.

1 2018 HUD REAC Inspection Scores; 2017 HUD Picture of Subsidized Households

2 2016 5 Year American Community Survey


Name RegionAverage Family

Expenditure Per MonthAverage HUD

Expenditure Per MonthAverage Total

RentProperty

Inspection

CCOPPERWOOD II The Woodlands 290 779 1069 99

COPPERWOOD I The Woodlands 289 781 1070 99

EVERGREEN COMMONS Southwest 229 513 742 99

LIGHTHOUSE LIVINGCENTER I Southwest 239 620 859 99

LIGHTHOUSE LIVING CENTER II Southwest 254 524 778 99

BELLFORT PARK Southwest 292 629 921 98

TTELEPHONE APARTMENTS Southeast 251 446 697 98

GOLDBERG B'NAI B'RITH TOWERS Southwest 209 538 747 97

WESLEY SQUARE APARTMENTS Southeast 171 1022 1193 97

OOAK HAVEN APARMENTS Southeast 246 493 739 96

Name RegionAverage Family

Expenditure Per MonthAverage HUD

Expenditure Per MonthAverage Total

RentProperty

Inspection

GARDEN CITY Northwest 149 893 1042 74

CLEME MANOR Southeast 193 693 886 72

ARBOR COURT Northwest 167 931 1098 70

TTHE PINEMONT Northwest 258 526 784 66

DYERSDALE VILLAGE Northeast 229 540 769 65

PINES OF WOOD FOREST Northeast 314 653 967 65

ROYAL PALMS Southeast 144 654 798 64

STERLINGSHIRE APARTMENTS Northeast 188 696 884 63

NORTH MACGREGOR ARMS APT Southeast 226 810 1036 47

WWOODLAND CHRISTIAN TOWER Northwest 238 394 632 10

Properties with the Highest Inspection Scores

Properties with the Lowest Inspection Scores

Figure 10. A table summarizing the ten Project-Based Section 8 properties in our study with the

highest inspection scores. Bolded properties indicate that they are exclusively for seniors.

Figure 9. A table summarizing the ten Project-Based Section 8 properties in our study with the

highest inspection scores. Bolded properties indicate that they are exclusively for seniors.

Data from 2017 Picture of Subsidized Households, 2018 HUD REAC Inspection Scores

Copperwood I Apartments

150 Units

6% Black NonHispanic

75% White NonHispanic

$110,673 Median Household Income by Census Tract

$13,583 Median Household Income

by Property

99 - Last Inspection

Score (2015)

$779 Average HUD Expenditure/Month

11% of Census Tract in Poverty

$

$$74 Crime Index

Score90 TEA Score for local High School

$

$$68 Crime Index


$

$$68 Crime Index


Figure 14. A photo of the Wood Glen Apartments.

The photo shows a well-kept, shaded receation area.

Figure 13. An infographic describing the conditions for

residents living in the Wood Glen Apartments.


Project-Based Section 8 in The Woodlands

Holly Creek II Apartments

108 Units





by Property


Score (2015)



Wood Glen Apartments

151 Units





by Property


Score (2015)



Figure 12. A photo of Holly Creek II Apartments.

The photo shows a well-kept, shaded receation area.


residents living in the Holly Creek II Apartments.

Figure 16. A photo of the Copperwood I Apartments. Figure 15. An infographic describing the conditions for residents living in the Copperwood I Apartments

Northline Point Apartments

103 Units





by Property


Score (2018)



Villa Americana

250 Units





by Property

88 Last Inspection

Score (2016)

$,1141 Average HUD Expenditure/Month


$

$$

Garden City Apartments

252 Units

79% BlackNonHispanic




by Property

74 Last Inspection

Score (2016)



18 Crime Index Score 83 TEA Score for local High School

$

$$10 Crime Index


$

$$7 Crime Index Score 72 TEA Score for

local High School


Project-Based Section 8 in Houston


residents living in the Villa Americana Apartments.

Figure 17. A photo of the Villa Americana Apartments.

The photo shows a dity, unkempt apartment complex.


residents living in the Garden City Apartments.

Figure 19. A photo of the Garden City Apartments.

The photo shows a sparse apartment complex with

no trees.

Figure 22. An infographic describing the conditions for residents living in the Northline Apartments.Figure 21. A photo of the Northline Point Apartments.


When Project-Based Section 8 housing works well, it gives marginalized families and seniors an opportunity to live in quality housing at rates that they can aff ord. Overwhelmingly, however, the narrative of Project-Based Section 8 housing in Houston is that poor families are only given the choice to live in neighborhoods that are already in crisis. This traps them into a cycle of instability.

When Project-Based Section 8 housing fails, it blocks already marginalized residents into their apartments. If the subsidized complex where someone resides does not maintain safe and decent housing, then they are essentially imprisoned in that dangerous and substandard apartment until they can find another aff ordable place to live or are forced to become homeless.


Properties that are located in historically under-resourced neighborhoods are only compounding on the diff iculties that that neighborhood faces while not providing any solutions. Landlords should be clamoring to have Project-Based Section 8 propeties in their portfolios because they ensure consistently full occupancy with rents that are guaranteed by the government. Owning a Project-Based Section 8 property means having publically insured income. At the same time, HUD should have their choice of the most reputable and responsible landlords with whom to partner. There should be no tolerance of subpar housing, and landlords who fail their tenants should not be given contract extensions. Landlords who take the care to locate their properties in higher opportunity areas and to maintain high quality complexes should be encouraged and easy to find because of the guaranteed income.

It is important to acknowledge that The Woodlands is diff erent than Houston. The city population as whole is almost 86% white, and the median family income, at $115,083, is twice that of a family in Houston1. It is also important to note, however, that the subsidized housing in The Woodlands is not better because of diff erences in race. The subsidized housing in The Woodlands is better, because it is not exacerbating the pressures that lower income families already face. The apartment complexes are in safer neighborhoods with access to better local resources. The complexes are also, on average, almost 40 units smaller, which means that maintaining the quality of the apartments takes substantially less time and eff ort2.

1 2016 American Community Survey

2 2017 Picture of Subsidized Households

22 Texas Housers, 201922 Texas Housers, 2019

The Project-Based Section 8 program has incredible potential to be a stabilizing force in the lives of the most vulnerable

members of society. We have evidence that the program can work, and The Woodlands is a perfect example of that.

Currently, however, the program reinforces the systemic disadvantages that are most common in a segregated

society. Being a white person in subsidized housing in a white neighborhood is a completely diff erent experience than being a Black person living in subsidized housing in a Black

neighborhood.

Until everyone in the program is ensured decent, aff ordable housing it cannot deliver on its promise.

Next: In part 2 of 3 of our series, we have the personal accounts of the tenants of public housing and how their experiences fall short from the expected standard of decent housing.

Texas Housers, 2019

Works Cited


1. 2018 Texas Education Agency Accountability Reports

2. 2016 5 Year American Community Survey

3. 2017 Department of Housing and Urban Development Picture of Subsidized Households

4. Neighborhood Scout Neighborhood Reports

5. Baker, C. (2019, March 29). Eviction rate in Syracuse public housing drops 75% thanks to City Hall eff ort. Retrieved

from https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/03/eviction-rate-in-syracuse-public-housing-drops-75-thanks-to-city-

hall-eff ort.html

6. 2018 HUD REAC Inspection Scores;

7. Sarnoff , N. (2019, March 6). Prospects dim for aff ordable housing project in the Heights. The Houston Chronicle.

Retrieved from https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Prospects-dim-for-aff ordable-hous-

ing-project-in-13668677.php

8. The 2018 The Gap: A Shortage of Aff ordable Homes Report

project-based across houston section 8 and the housing woodlands · 2019-08-30 · glen is a...

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