RELOCATING THE POOR: SOCIAL CAPITAL AND NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCES

ABSTRACT: This article examines the social capital available to low-income households which were relocated to different types of neighborhoods with the HOPE VI program, an initiative aimed at redeveloping U.S. public housing developments into mixed-income communities. Along with improving the living environment, HOPE VI is thought to improve residents' access to social capital by changing the economic mix of their neighborhoods. This article contributes evidence from multivariate analyses of survey data of Boston HOPE VI residents in their post-HOPE VI neighborhoods. Findings indicate that rather than neighborhood socioeconomic mix, neighborhood resources, such as libraries, recreation facilities, parks, grocery stores, and social services, followed by place attachment and feelings of safety, were the strongest predictors of social capital. A discussion of why neighborhood resources may be so important for social capital is presented, and implications for policies aimed at improving poverty neighborhoods and low-income people's access to social capital are considered.