Public Housing on Risky Ground: A National Study of Flood Risk and Two Case Studies Investigating the Legacy of Environmental Inequality

Abstract

This dissertation investigates whether residents of U.S. rent-subsidized housing are exposed to natural hazards, including flooding and sinkholes, and how they can be protected. Using a multilevel model, the first study finds that census tracts with higher concentrations of subsidized housing have greater exposure to flooding, particularly in inland regions and especially in inland Alaska. The second and third studies each use a combination of qualitative methods, including elite interviews, document analysis, observation, and archival research, to examine two local housing authorities undertaking mitigation efforts for aging properties at imminent risk. In Spencer, West Virginia, due to the scarcity of developable land, public housing was built at the confluence of two creeks. After two major floods that forced tenant evacuation, flood insurance rate hikes prompted the housing authority to pursue floodproofing solutions. In Frederick, Maryland, public housing sited on low-lying, sinkhole-prone land through urban renewal and racial segregation pressures is being torn down and rebuilt with deep foundations using Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which requires private investment interests in the neighborhood. These cases reveal how historical siting decisions formed environmental inequality in public housing and how decision-making around mitigation is a complex process. Disasters can act as focusing events, generating the political will to implement known mitigation solutions or achieve preexisting redevelopment goals. As climate hazards intensify, policy makers should provide funding for affordable housing stakeholders to make, and subsequently implement, the difficult choice between fortifying existing developments and relocating residents to safer locations.