Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Project

Description: The traditional approach to public housing redevelopment involves displacement of existing residents either temporarily or permanently. Dismantling these communities disrupts social support networks, potentially offsetting the health benefits produced by improved housing and neighborhood conditions. We propose to evaluate a unique, anti-displacement, public housing redevelopment in Nashville, Tennessee’s Cayce Place neighborhood. Over the next several years, Cayce Place is undergoing a one-for-one replacement of the ~700 low-income units. The redevelopment will convert the neighborhood to a mixed-income community with 2,400 housing units, of which 40% will be dedicated to low-income residents. The project's goals are to deconcentrate poverty, reduce racial segregation in housing, and increase the well-being of the Cayce's predominantly Black population. We will use sequential, explanatory mixed methods to answer the following: • What are the redevelopment’s impacts on residents’ health and health-related behaviors? • How does redevelopment affect residents’ social cohesion, connectedness, and neighborhood norms? • How do social cohesion and connectedness moderate the relationship between redevelopment, health-related behaviors, and health? We will obtain resident data through in-person surveys of Cayce households, administrative data from the housing authority, and Medicaid claims. Data will be linked at the person-level allowing us to compare outcomes between residents who have and have not yet moved and to track changes within individuals over time. We will also collect rich qualitative data through focus groups with Cayce residents, providing context and depth in understanding for our quantitative findings. This proposal presents a unique opportunity to disentangle the impacts of revitalized housing, social cohesion, and health. If effective, this novel approach to anti-displacement housing revitalization may serve as a model for cities throughout the United States.