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Haighterade asks, "The Hope VI program is drawing to a close, something needs to replace it, and none of the candidates are talking much about it (at least that I've heard). My pet idea, drawing on Jane Jacobs, is that expanding Section 8 is vastly superior to having the government act as a landlord. But does Obama have a well-defined position? What do his advisors think?"In short, no, Obama doesn't have a well-defined position. He's not said anything about HOPE VI. This article, blasting both Obama and Clinton for being vague on housing, suggests that housing activists are pretty unhappy with the campaign's inattention to the issue. Obama's own housing policy papers look more like they're checking the box than proposing a plan :
Increase the Supply of Affordable Housing: In too many communities, low-income families are priced out of the housing market. Between 1993 and 2003, the number of units of affordable to low-income households fell by 1.2 million. Barack Obama believes we should create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to develop affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund would use a small percentage of the profits of two government-sponsored housing agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to create thousands new units of affordable housing every year. Barack Obama will also restore cuts to public housing operating subsidies, and ensure that all Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs are restored to their original purpose.You'll notice that there's no actual funding level mentioned nor affordable housing target named. So I'm not taking this white paper too seriously. I'm sure if folks demanded more detail they'd get some nice-sounding stuff from the campaign, but thus far, Obama hasn't demonstrated a whole lot of organic interest in the topic. In other words, don't expect this to be an immediate priority of his. Action, if it comes, would probably be driven by an interested adviser, a galvanizing event, or congressional legislation.
