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Spatial Distribution of Housing Choice Vouchers in a Gentrifying Neighborhood: A Study of Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio

Dyson, Ryan A

Abstract Details

2016, MCP, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning.
The Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio is a gentrifying inner-city community undergoing rapid revitalization and development. Reinvestment in the neighborhood has impacted the state of housing, which has a profound effect on low-income households, including those that receive Housing Choice Vouchers. The Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) increases mobility for low-income households, which provides voucher holders in low-quality neighborhoods the means to move to areas with a higher quality of life. In gentrifying neighborhoods like OTR, however, voucher holders risk being displaced as property values increase and rental apartments are converted to owner-occupied homes. Previous research on HCVP often focuses on mobility and the deconcentration of poverty, while overlooking the possible advantages of staying in place in a gentrifying neighborhood. Similarly, the academic discourse on gentrification explores its effects on low-income families, but not HCVP households specifically. My thesis fills these gaps in the research by looking at OTR to explain how HCVP might ensure that low-income households can remain in a gentrifying neighborhood, and how gentrifying neighborhoods might retain a mixture of incomes. My study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze HCVP household trends in OTR between 1995 and 2012. I use GIS analysis to study the locations and migration of voucher holders in OTR to determine prevailing trends that have occurred throughout the ongoing gentrification process. By determining changes in density and migration of voucher holders, several spatial trends of HCVP households emerge in the neighborhood. To provide background for these trends, I include a brief history and current conditions analysis of OTR, neighborhood photos from throughout the study years, and discussions with key neighborhood stakeholders. These discussions offer additional context for voucher holder trends and provide analysis of the effectiveness of HCVP in retaining a mix of incomes in OTR. This study finds that the number of HCVP households in the neighborhood has varied throughout the study years. HCVP households peaked in 2004 and declined steadily in subsequent years, while still maintaining a high concentration in specific sub-areas of the neighborhood. The study also finds that outmigration from the neighborhood has varied throughout the study years, peaking in 2004 before declining steadily. Between 2008 and 2012, outmigration began to increase slightly once again. The causes for these trends are often complex and extend beyond a simple narrative of gentrification and displacement. Combining the results of the GIS analysis with qualitative study including stakeholder interviews, helps reveal a nuanced interpretation of HCVP trends and gentrification in the neighborhood. The conclusions and recommendations from my study can assist stakeholders in creating policies that will help retain a mix of incomes in OTR and may also be applicable to other gentrifying neighborhoods across the country.
David Varady, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Xinhao Wang, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
122 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dyson, R. A. (2016). Spatial Distribution of Housing Choice Vouchers in a Gentrifying Neighborhood: A Study of Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1463130892

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dyson, Ryan. Spatial Distribution of Housing Choice Vouchers in a Gentrifying Neighborhood: A Study of Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio. 2016. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1463130892.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dyson, Ryan. "Spatial Distribution of Housing Choice Vouchers in a Gentrifying Neighborhood: A Study of Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1463130892

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)