Housing Quality and Neighborhood Redevelopment: A Study of Neighborhood Initiatives in Phoenix, Arizona

Abstract

The last few years have witnessed efforts to eliminate the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in Congress. Critics of the CDBG program have pointed to the dearth of studies documenting successful impacts in affected neighborhoods. This article examines the impact of the use of CDBG monies in Phoenix, Arizona. Using housing condition surveys from 1994 and 2004, six Neighborhood Initiative Areas (NIAs) are examined to determine the effect that CDBG targeted funds had on housing quality in these areas between 1994 and 2004. The study documents dramatic improvement in housing conditions in these targeted areas as a result, in part, of the CDBG funding.