The impact of community development block grant funds on neighborhood revitalization : Austin, Texas, 1975-1995

Community Development Block Grants in existence since 1974 funneled $105 million into improving selected Austin neighborhoods. A significant portion of this money was used to revitalize minority neighborhoods on the east side of Austin. This study examines the effectiveness of funding allocations through socioeconomic indicators of neighborhood improvement or decline. The findings indicate that the funds were ineffective in revitalizing the housing infrastructure of these neighborhoods and instead supported large administration costs and ineptitude. More strikingly, CDBG funds proved the catalyst for neighborhood gentrification that favored middle-class residents over the low-income minority residents the funds were designed to assist.Geography and the Environmen