IPR Research on Gautreaux and Other
Public Housing Mobility Programs

Center faculty have conducted more than two decades of research on the Gautreaux Program, a major initiative ordered by the courts in 1976 to provide a metropolitan-wide remedy for racial discrimination in Chicago's public housing program.

Two IPR faculty fellows have been particularly involved in the ground-breaking public housing research: James Rosenbaum, professor of human development and social policy and sociology, and Greg Duncan, Edwina S. Tarry Professor of Education and Social Policy.

A major finding of Gautreaux research is that most families that moved to Chicago’s suburbs were still living in those suburbs 10 and even 20 years later. Their children's attitudes toward school improved and their grades did not drop, despite some racial discrimination and harassment. Moreover, as children in these Gautreaux families grew up and left home, they too managed to live in neighborhoods that were far safer and more affluent than the inner-city neighborhoods their families had left behind. Gautreaux II is picking up where the original research program left off, providing in-depth qualitative data on the new Gautreaux movers.

Additionally, IPR faculty have conducted extensive research on the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) Program, shaped by Rosenbaum's research on Gautreaux. Duncan and two colleagues are currently conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses of MTO movers who have been in the neighborhoods for five to seven years now.

With the U.S. set to embark upon an unprecedented program of social and economic rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the lessons of Gautreaux and other public housing mobility programs can provide important lessons to communities helping with resettlement efforts.

For more information on IPR public housing mobility research, please click here.

Related Working Papers and Publications by IPR Faculty

IPR Working Papers and Research Reports

DeLuca, S., and J. Rosenbaum. 2002. If low income blacks are given a chance to live in white neighborhoods, will they stay? Examining mobility patterns with quasi-experimental data. Evanston, Ill.: IPR Working Paper, WP-02-28. Published in 2003 in Housing Policy Debate 14(3): 305-45.

Rosenbaum, J., S. DeLuca, and T. Tuck. 2002. Moving and changing: How places change people who move into them. Evanston, Ill.: IPR Working Paper, WP-02-09. Published in 2005 as New capabilities in new places: Low-income black families in suburbia. In The Geography of Opportunity, ed. X. de Souza Briggs, 150-175. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Rosenbaum, J. E., L. Stroh, and C. Flynn. 1996. Lake Parc Place: The first four years of mixed-income housing program. Evanston, Ill.: IPR Working Paper, WP-96-07. Published in 1998 as Lake Parc Place: A study of mixed-income housing in Housing Policy Debate 9(4): 703-40.

Rosenbaum, J. 1994. Housing mobility strategies for changing the Geography of Opportunity. Evanston, Ill.: IPR (44 pages).

Rosenbaum, J., and P. Meaden. 1992. Harassment and acceptance of low-income black youth in white suburban schools. Evanston, Ill.: IPR Working Paper, WP-92-06.

Kaufman, J. E., and J. Rosenbaum. 1991. The education and employment of low-income black youth in white suburbs. Evanston, Ill.: IPR Working Paper, WP-91-20. Published in 1992 in Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis 14(3): 229-40.

Rosenbaum, J., S. Popkin, J. Kaufman, and J. Rusin. 1991. Social integration of low-income black adults in white middle-class suburbs. Evanston, Ill.: IPR Working Paper, WP-91-06. Published in 1991 in Social Problems 38(4): 448-61.

Rosenbaum, J., and S. Popkin. 1990. Economic and social impacts of housing integration: A report to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Evanston, Ill.: IPR, Northwestern University (89 pages).

Related Books

Pattillo, M. Forthcoming. Black on the Block: The Politics of Race and Class in the City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Rubinowitz, L., and J. Rosenbaum. 2000. Crossing the Class and Color Lines: From Public Housing to White Suburbia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Related Articles and Book Chapters

Duncan, G., with R. Mendenhall and S. DeLuca. Forthcoming. Neighborhood resources, racial segregation and economic mobility: Results from the Gautreaux Program. Social Science Research.

Duncan, G., with J. Pahsup, K. Edin, and K. Burke. Forthcoming. Residential mobility program take-up from the client’s perspective: Participation in the Gautreaux Two Housing Mobility Program. Housing Policy Debate.

Duncan, G., with L. Sanbonmatsu, J. Kling and J. Brooks-Gunn. Forthcoming. Neighborhoods and academic achievement: Results from the Moving to Opportunity experiment. Journal of Human Resources.

Keels, M., G. Duncan, S. DeLuca, R. Mendenhall, and J. Rosenbaum. 2005. Fifteen years later: Can residential mobility programs provide a long-term escape from neighborhood segregation, crime, and poverty? Demography 42(1): 51-73.

Ludwig, J., G. Duncan, and J. C. Pinkston. 2005. Housing mobility programs and economic self-sufficiency: Evidence from a randomized experiment. Journal of Public Economics 89(1): 131-56.

Rosenbaum, J., with S. DeLuca and T. Tuck. 2005. New capabilities in new places: Low-income black families in suburbia. In The Geography of Opportunity, ed. X. de Souza Briggs, 150-175. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

DeLuca, S., and J. Rosenbaum. 2003. If low-income blacks are given a chance to live in white neighborhoods, will they stay? Examining mobility patterns with quasi-experimental data. Housing Policy Debate 14(3): 305-45.

Rosenbaum, J., L. Reynolds, and S. DeLuca. 2002. How do places matter? The geography of opportunity, self-efficacy, and a look inside the black box of residential mobility. Housing Studies 17(1):71-82.

Duncan, G., with J. Ludwig and P. Hirschfield. 2001. Urban poverty and juvenile crime: Evidence from a randomized housing-mobility experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics 116(2): 665-79.

Rosenbaum, J., and S. DeLuca. 2000. Is housing mobility the key to welfare reform? Lessons from Chicago’s Gautreaux Program. Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy Survey Series.

Rosenbaum, J. 1999. Is integration possible? Institutional strategies to facilitate integration. Poverty and Race 8(6).

Rosenbaum, J., L. Stroh and C. Flynn. 1998. Lake Parc Place: A study of mixed-income housing. Housing Policy Debate 9(4): 703-40.

Rosenbaum, J. 1997. Residential mobility: effects on education, employment and racial interaction. In Legal and Social Changes in Racial Integration in the U.S., ed. J.C. Bolger and J. Wegner, 231-70. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press.

Rosenbaum, J., with Shazia R. Miller. 1997. Housing mobility: Certifications and warranties: Keys to effective residential mobility programs. Seton Hall Law Review 27(4):1426-49.

Rosenbaum, J. 1995. Changing the geography of opportunity by expanding residential choice: Lessons from the Gautreaux Program. Housing Policy Debate 6(1): 231-70.

Rosenbaum, J. 1993. Closing the gap: Does residential integration improve the employment and education of low-income blacks? In Affordable Housing and Public Policy, ed. L. B. Joseph, 223-28. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Rosenbaum, J. 1993. School experiences of low-income black children in white suburbs. In Separate and Unequal in the Metropolis: The Changing Shape of the School Desegregation Battle, ed. G. Orfield. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Rosenbaum, J. 1993. The psychological consequences of residential integration: Low-income black adults and youth in white suburbs. Child, Youth, and Family Services Quarterly 16(1): 10-11.

Rosenbaum, J., N. Fishman, A. Brett, and P. Meaden. 1993. Can the Kerner Commission's housing strategy improve employment, education, and social integration for low-income blacks? North Carolina Law Review 71(5): 1519-56.

Rosenbaum, J., S. Popkin, and P. Meaden. 1993. Labor market experiences of low-income black women in middle-class suburbs. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 12(3): 556-73.

Kaufman, J., and J. Rosenbaum. 1992. The education and employment of low-income black youth in white suburbs. Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis 14(3): 229-40.

Rubinowitz, L. 1992. Metropolitan public housing desegregation remedies: Chicago's privatization program. Northern Illinois University Law Review 12(13): 589-669.

Rosenbaum, J. 1991. Black pioneers: Do their moves to the suburbs increase economic opportunity for mothers and children? Housing Policy Debate 2(4): 1179-214.

Rosenbaum, J., and S. Popkin. 1991. Employment and earnings of low-income blacks who move to middle-class suburbs. In The Urban Underclass, ed. C. Jencks and P. Peterson, 342-56. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

Rosenbaum, J., S. Popkin, J. Kaufman, and J. Rusin. 1991. Social integration of low-income black adults in white middle-class suburbs. Social Problems 38(4): 448-61.

Rosenbaum, J., M. Kulieke, and L. Rubinowitz. 1988. White suburban schools' responses to low-income black children: Sources of successes and problems. The Urban Review 20(1): 28-41.

Rosenbaum, J., M. Kulieke, and L. Rubinowitz. 1987. Low-income black children in white suburban schools: A study of school and student response. Journal of Negro Education 56(1): 35-43.

Unpublished Faculty Research

DeLuca, S., and J. Rosenbaum. 2005. Special education and neighborhoods: Does social context affect diagnosis? Working draft under review.

Duncan, G., E. Clark-Kauffman, and E. Snell. 2004. Residential mobility interventions as treatments for the sequelae of neighborhood violence.

Lewis, D. A., and C. A. Ward. 2002. The Plan for Transformation and the residential movements of public housing residents.

Other Publications

Keels, M., G. Duncan, S. DeLuca, R. Mendenhall, and J. Rosenbaum. 2003. How permanent are successes in residential relocation programs? Joint Center for Poverty Research Policy Briefs 5(2).

Ludwig, J., G. Duncan, and H. Ladd. 2001. The effect of MTO on Baltimore children’s educational outcomes. Joint Center for Poverty Research Poverty Research News 5(1): 13-15.

Institute for Policy Research. 2000. "Geography of opportunity" for public housing residents? IPR Newsletter 21(1): 1-2.

Rosenbaum, J., with S. R. Miller. 1997. Can residential mobility programs be preferred providers of tenants? Poverty Research Spring: 7-12.