This Works: Expanding Urban Housing
The mid-1980s were a turning point in American housing policy. As the federal Section 8 production programs ended and federal budgetary constraints grew, the locus of innovation in housing policy shifted from the federal government to states and cities. Any examination of local innovations in housing must include a particular focus on the experience of New York City. For decades the city has been the testing ground for new policies that were later emulated, for good and bad, by both the federal government and by other cities throughout the nation. In addition to its policies, New York City has committed unprecedented resources to housing production. Its Ten Year Capital Plan for housing (hereinafter referred to as “The Ten Year Plan”), announced by Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1985, has stretched to fifteen years. Over this period, the city has spent more than $5.1 billion to build or rehabilitate over 180,000 housing units.
In this Bulletin, we briefly describe what led New York to embark on the Ten Year Plan and what it encompassed. We evaluate some of the achievements of the Plan and seek to isolate some of its most innovative and potentially replicable elements. Finally, we speculate on some of the opportunities that were missed by the city as it spent billions of dollars to build housing and spur neighborhood revitalization.
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