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Part of the Section 8 program is that the recipients really have no skin in the game... they have no reason to try to keep the area looking nice. No reason to plant flowers, mow the lawn and pick up the trash....
Yes there is a small percentage of those in the program that care.... but most of them are renters of the lowest caliber since
A: it cost them very little
B: they truly believe they are owed this program
C: truly don't know how to care for a place since they were never taught basic cleaning skills
Honestly I think it's time to do away with 90% of the program. Keep it for elderly, disabled and veterans. Every one else has no excuses why they can't take on room mates, extra jobs or whatever to survive. This whole cradle to grave take care of me attitude has to go.
I say this since my cousin was part of Section 8... all because she got preggo with a loser (on purpose by her own admission) just because she thought he would stay.... we the taxpayers paid for the drug and alcohol addicted twins that were born, one passed away after 3 surgeries to try to fix birth defects.... we paid for 2 apartments, one she trashed and had "it" living with her illegally. The other she was kicked out of for 3 failed inspections on cleanliness.......
Gee she got her ass kicked out of the program, realized nobody was going to put up with her **** and CLEANED UP TOTALLY. She has kept a steady job for over 10 years, is clean and found an amazing and strong REAL man who is a perfect husband and father who helped her overcome all of the crap!
That doesn't sound bad. I wouldn't have a problem with 1-2 section 8 hours in a neighborhood of 50+ houses. But what I think a lot of people worry about is suddenly 20% of the neighborhood is section 8.
Ironically the program backed by the Obama administration is seeking to do exactly what you are stating above.
Its goals are to ensure that nicer, middle income communities are not inundated with voucher holders to the point that it tips those areas into a worse category in relation to crime or bad schools.
There was a study done in Memphis, I believe that showed that when you move voucher holders into neighborhoods that are lower-middle to middle-middle income and that have some minor issues, that too many voucher holders causes a negative effect on those areas.
Since that study showed this to be the case, HUD now wants to ensure that voucher holders have the opportunity to move to nicer, wealthier neighborhoods and to spread out the homes they live in so that there is a lesser chance of negative outcomes.
The thing about it though is that it depends on where the residents choose to live, as mentioned above. Many areas around the country (I know Baltimore is one and Chicago) have residents who want the chance to leave the inner cities or bad neighborhoods and they want a nicer area that they can afford with their voucher. However the majority of those voucher holders would rather stay in the inner city. They have community and familial connections in their old neighborhoods and so don't want to leave in large numbers. So all of the hoop-la I see in media and around here about how all the poor are going to come and move in rich neighborhoods is rather false. A small minority will move to the burbs/ex-urbs especially. Most will stay where they have always stayed.
And FWIW, on the odd stereotypes about being able to "tell" a Section 8 residents from others, in most cases, you cannot tell. They live in nice houses and are regular people. A lot of voucher holders are actually elderly people and a majority of them are not minority citizens.
Part of the Section 8 program is that the recipients really have no skin in the game... they have no reason to try to keep the area looking nice. No reason to plant flowers, mow the lawn and pick up the trash....
Yes there is a small percentage of those in the program that care.... but most of them are renters of the lowest caliber since
A: it cost them very little
B: they truly believe they are owed this program
C: truly don't know how to care for a place since they were never taught basic cleaning skills
Honestly I think it's time to do away with 90% of the program. Keep it for elderly, disabled and veterans. Every one else has no excuses why they can't take on room mates, extra jobs or whatever to survive. This whole cradle to grave take care of me attitude has to go.
I say this since my cousin was part of Section 8... all because she got preggo with a loser (on purpose by her own admission) just because she thought he would stay.... we the taxpayers paid for the drug and alcohol addicted twins that were born, one passed away after 3 surgeries to try to fix birth defects.... we paid for 2 apartments, one she trashed and had "it" living with her illegally. The other she was kicked out of for 3 failed inspections on cleanliness.......
Gee she got her ass kicked out of the program, realized nobody was going to put up with her **** and CLEANED UP TOTALLY. She has kept a steady job for over 10 years, is clean and found an amazing and strong REAL man who is a perfect husband and father who helped her overcome all of the crap!
Sounds like your cousin lived in public housing. Public housing and Section 8/HCV is not the same thing.
There are multi-year wait lists for Section 8. It is a program where the resident can choose where they want to live, either an apartment or a single family home.
Public housing is "apartments" that residents are assigned to.
And FWIW a majority of both public housing and Section 8 residents are nice, decent people who don't trash places. Working in the industry taught me a lot about not judging people based on their income. You just don't hear about the good residents, only the bad ones. I'd say 90% of both public housing and HCV residents are good, decent people who don't trash places and for public housing, they are just down on their luck. Many public housing residents would be homeless if it were not for public housing.
ETA: I base my commen on your cousin living in public housing on the bold. They do not commonly have "housekeeping" inspections for HCV/Section 8. They do for public housing and you have to fail multiple times for them to kick you out.
It increases the safety of the poor people that use the program and it allows their children to attend the better funded and usually better quality suburban public schools. Better schools can help break the multi-generational cycle of poverty and give low income kids a chance for a better life.
I recently was on another thread similar to this. My home in Westchester County NY has Section 8 housing a few blocks away. The kids are always outside unsupervised until all hours of the night (age 8, 10 and 11).. Last Thursday, I was outside with my 4 year old and 2 year old.. they were playing with the kids on our block. The kids from Section 8 came over on our street and we thought playing with the older kids. My 4 year old started crying, I turn around and the Section 8 kids were throwing rocks at my 4 year old (and the other kids from my block) calling them Whiteys.... I was livid. I screamed at them, told them that we do not tolerate that kind of talk and behavior and they laughed in my face and called me a Whitey and ran away.
The day before these kids had no problem playing in my backyard with our water guns and motorized jeeps.
I recently was on another thread similar to this. My home in Westchester County NY has Section 8 housing a few blocks away. The kids are always outside unsupervised until all hours of the night (age 8, 10 and 11).. Last Thursday, I was outside with my 4 year old and 2 year old.. they were playing with the kids on our block. The kids from Section 8 came over on our street and we thought playing with the older kids. My 4 year old started crying, I turn around and the Section 8 kids were throwing rocks at my 4 year old (and the other kids from my block) calling them Whiteys.... I was livid. I screamed at them, told them that we do not tolerate that kind of talk and behavior and they laughed in my face and called me a Whitey and ran away.
The day before these kids had no problem playing in my backyard with our water guns and motorized jeeps.
LOL, "the kids from Section 8"
I didn't know Section 8 was a place.
How do you know they are on Section 8? They may just be a$$ hole kids.
Many times I have seen that random people think that other kids/people are on public housing/Section 8 when they are not.
I even have relatives who lived in low income housing apartment communities (not Section 8 or public housing) and they thought they lived in public housing. I told them if they lived in public housing their apartment would be better, the grass would be cut, and the parking lots would have been plowed in the winter because housing authorities take care of their properties.
I highly doubt your new neighbors are on Section 8. You can check though to see if they are by getting in touch with your housing authority and doing a FOIA/open records request. If they are, you can complain to the housing authority about them or the owner of the property. FWIW, if a kid threw a rock at my kid, I'd go talk to the parent about their kid or call the police.
How do you know they are on Section 8? They may just be a$$ hole kids.
Many times I have seen that random people think that other kids/people are on public housing/Section 8 when they are not.
I even have relatives who lived in low income housing apartment communities (not Section 8 or public housing) and they thought they lived in public housing. I told them if they lived in public housing their apartment would be better, the grass would be cut, and the parking lots would have been plowed in the winter because housing authorities take care of their properties.
I highly doubt your new neighbors are on Section 8. You can check though to see if they are by getting in touch with your housing authority and doing a FOIA/open records request. If they are, you can complain to the housing authority about them or the owner of the property. FWIW, if a kid threw a rock at my kid, I'd go talk to the parent about their kid or call the police.
We have spoken to the landlord who confirmed he receives a portion of rent from Section 8, maybe he is misinformed? We spoke to him a few months back because the kids prior to these (ages 4 and 5) were out unsupervised all winter not properly dressed. A few times one of my neighbors rang the doorbell to the apt to get a parent and nobody answered. The 5 year old said the mother was at work (this was 8 at night). Anyway, after talking to the landlord that family is gone and this new one took its place.
If the landlord was not mistaken and Section 8 really pays a portion of the rent let me tell you that no housing authority takes care of the property. Maybe they give money to the landlord and he is supposed to keep up with it (which he doesn't) but nobody takes care of it. Its a mess.
My neighbor who I was with (and kids were also getting rocks thrown at) is a cop in our town. He was going to write a report so we have a paper trail just in case something bad happens but other than that nothing he can do. As for the kids parents, as usual, never seen them. Not even in passing. They never come check on them or anything.
The better question is why should suburbs be exempt from the Section 8 program?
BTW...the suburbs and rural America has been chock full of section 8 housing for decades.
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