Atlanta Through the Archives

Hope VI & the 1996 Olympics

Summary

City officials use Hope VI Funding and plans for the upcoming Olympics to systematically destroy the majority of Atlanta’s public housing.

Throughout the 1990s, Atlanta housing was characterized by the combined effects of the upcoming 1996 olympic games and, in 1992, the enactment of the Hope VI program, which created a new initiative to close existing public housing projects and build mixed-income housing on previous locations. In Atlanta, officials set their sights on the country’s first two public housing projects, Techwood Homes and Clark-Howell Homes, both desirable properties for the city’s redevelopment goals due to their central location near the CBD and the future Olympic Games. Despite community resistance, the current residents of these projects were given one option for aid with relocation -- Section 8 Vouchers, which federally subsidize rent in privately-owned urban housing. In 1996, these projects were demolished, displacing 667 residents, the majority of whom were black; Recent research finds that large numbers of residents were unable to even qualify for vouchers, and subsequently struggled to obtain any form of government housing assistance (Diehl). In the years following the Olympics, the redevelopment of the Techwood and Clark-Howell Homes neighborhoods resulted in raised property values, which displaced even more families from their homes.

SOURCES:

Diehl, W. J. (2018). An Olympic Relay Race—Passing Atlanta’s Public Housing to Public-Privative Partnerships from the 1996 Olympic Games to Today. Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law, 26(3), 575–612. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26408220

Newman, H. K. (1999). Neighborhood impacts of Atlanta’s Olympic Games. Community Development Journal, 34(2), 151–159. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44257467

Oakley, D., Ruel, E., & Reid, L. (2013). “It was really hard. ... It was alright. ... It was easy.” Public Housing Relocation Experiences and Destination Satisfaction in Atlanta. Cityscape, 15(2), 173–192. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41959118

Anil, B., Sjoquist, D. L., & Wallace, S. (2010). The Effect of a Program-Based Housing Move on Employment: HOPE VI in Atlanta. Southern Economic Journal, 77(1), 138–160. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27866760

Ward, Chandra D. (2013). Atlanta and Other Olympic Losers. Contexts, 12(3), 46–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24710797