10.1177/0885412203254333ARTICLEJournal of Planning LiteratureHo sing Vouchers Housing Vouchers and Residential Mobility

Existing research suggests that tenant-based subsidies (hous-ing vouchers) can help to deconcentrate poverty and improve the quality of life of low-income families. The Gautreaux Assisted Housing Program and the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) demonstration program have been shown to help fam-ilies move to safer neighborhoods and ones with better public schools. The regular Section 8 program has been successful in facilitating moves to low-poverty areas in places like Alameda County, California, but public housing families have had dif-ficulties in Chicago. Research on mixed-income communities has provided little evidence that social mixing has any direct positive impacts through social interaction and/or social net-works. However, the lack of research on the long-term impacts on children, such as future improvements in their employ-ment circumstances due to better educational attainment, makes it impossible to offer conclusive assessments on the connection between income mixing and social mobility