Raj Chetty, a leading scholar on economic mobility from Harvard University, has released new research highlighting the importance of neighborhood environments in shaping long-term financial outcomes for children. The study, conducted through his organization Opportunity Insights, evaluates the impact of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI program—a federal initiative launched in the 1990s to revitalize distressed public housing. n nThe model, originally developed in Atlanta by Egbert Perry of Integral Group and Renee Glover of the Atlanta Housing Authority ahead of the 1996 Summer Olympics, focused on replacing high-poverty housing projects with mixed-income communities. These redevelopments included access to early childhood education, quality K–12 schools, after-school programs, health services, and other community-building resources. n nOne of the most notable transformations was East Lake Meadows, once among Atlanta’s most troubled public housing complexes. Developer Tom Cousins led its redevelopment in collaboration with Glover and Perry. Later, in 2009, Cousins co-founded Purpose Built Communities with support from Warren Buffett and Julian Robertson to replicate the model nationwide. n nChetty’s analysis of 262 HOPE VI sites found that children raised in these revitalized neighborhoods earned approximately 50% more over their lifetimes—equivalent to an additional $500,000 in income—compared to peers from similar backgrounds who remained in high-poverty areas. n nThe findings come at a pivotal moment, as Chetty’s earlier rankings placed Atlanta last among major U.S. metro areas for economic mobility. While Charlotte improved from 50th to 38th between 2014 and 2024, Atlanta fell to the bottom. Chetty recently visited the city at the invitation of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation to discuss strategies for improvement. During his visit, he emphasized that place-based interventions can significantly alter life trajectories. n nCarol Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities and former AHA executive, stressed that neighborhood conditions profoundly affect children’s futures. She described herself as a “neighborist,” focused on uplifting communities where over 30% of residents live below the poverty line. Purpose Built now works with around 60 communities, about half of which are formally part of its network, and aims to expand to 35 by 2028. n nThe organization has grown from 14 to 41 staff members and secured funding from major institutions including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Truist, and Blue Meridian Partners, which awarded $25 million. Recently, the Blank Family Foundation granted Blue Meridian $75 million to support a five-year economic mobility initiative in Atlanta and other Georgia communities. n nAtlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has launched the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative targeting seven struggling neighborhoods. Naughton expressed enthusiasm about joining this effort, noting that success depends on sustained political will. n nPerry attributed Atlanta’s low mobility ranking not to flaws in the HOPE VI model, but to a policy shift during former Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration, which distanced itself from Glover, Perry, and predecessor Shirley Franklin—later the first CEO of Purpose Built. This disruption, Perry argued, halted progress and ultimately affected long-term outcomes. n nHe warned that interrupting long-term urban strategies for short-term political reasons carries lasting consequences. Looking ahead, Perry believes Dickens’ vision of making Atlanta the best place to raise a child is achievable—but only through coordinated, multi-institutional collaboration. n n“In an ideal scenario,” Perry said, “the city government, school district, and county authorities would align their efforts and resources toward shared community goals.” n
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Raj Chetty: Transforming communities key to improving economic mobility
Place matters. So says Raj Chetty, the economic mobility guru of Harvard University. n nChetty’s Opportunity Insights just released a comprehensive study on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI program — a model that was first designed and developed in Atlanta by Egbert Perry, the chairman and founder of the Integral Group, in concert with the Atlanta Housing Authority’s Renee Glover in 1993, in preparation for Atlanta’s 1996 Summer Olympic Games. n nThe idea? Replace older public housing projects with communities that have mixed-income housing, including market-rate, while offering critical amenities, such as early childhood learning, quality K-12 education, after-school centers, health and wellness programs, as well as other community-building initiatives. n nThat HOPE VI model was replicated across the country, including at Atlanta’s East Lake Meadows, which, at the time, was one of the most crime-ridden public housing projects in the city. Tom Cousins, an Atlanta developer who died last year, led the transformation of East Lake, working with AHA’s Renee Glover and Perry. n nCousins, in partnership with billionaires Warren Buffett and the late Julian Robertson, launched Atlanta-based Purpose Built Communities in 2009 to spread the model to neighborhoods across the country. n nChetty’s just-released deep-dive study on the 262 communities funded by the U.S. HUD’s HOPE VI program shows the model has been an effective way to address poverty and improve the economic mobility of children who have grown up in mixed-income communities. n nAccording to Nicolas Kristoff’s New York Times article summarizing the study, children who spent their childhoods in the transformed public housing communities would earn 50 percent more over their lifetimes — a difference of $500,000. n nThe Chetty study, Creating High-Opportunity Neighborhoods: Evidence from the HOPE VI Program, lands at a critical time. Chetty is becoming a household name in Atlanta for his economic mobility rankings of metro areas. n nIn 2014, Chetty released a study showing that Charlotte, N.C., was 50th out of 50 metro areas when it came to economic mobility. At the time, Atlanta ranked 49th. Charlotte took that as a call to action, and Chetty updated his economic mobility study in 2024. Charlotte improved to 38th, and the Atlanta region got the dubious distinction of last place. n nChetty came to Atlanta last month at the invitation of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, where he participated in three separate events to help Atlanta better understand how it could improve its economic mobility rankings. During his presentation at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Chetty previewed his HOPE VI study, saying that place-based initiatives had some of the greatest impact in improving economic mobility outcomes. n nWhat is amazing to me, as a decades-long observer of urban development in the region, is how influential Atlanta has been in housing and place-based transformation. n nIntegral, in partnership with the McCormack Baron real estate firm, proposed tearing down Atlanta’s Techwood Homes, the first public housing project in the country, which was highly controversial. n nRenee Glover, then-head of the Atlanta Housing Authority (now Atlanta Housing), believed in the transformation model — replace concentrated poverty with mixed-income housing and community-building amenities. The redevelopment of Techwood Homes won one of the first HOPE VI grants in 1993, and its transformation model was quickly adopted by housing authorities nationally. n n“All of a sudden, we became the gold standard,” Perry said in a lengthy interview tracing the impact Atlanta has had on housing policy for nearly 90 years. n nAtlanta eventually had eight HOPE VI projects, more than any city other than Chicago, which had nine over the life of the program. n nAtlanta’s role was further elevated by Purpose Built Communities. Carol Naughton, who worked for AHA under Renee Glover from 1995 to 2002, is now Purpose Built’s CEO. She left AHA to join the East Lake Foundation. She has been with Purpose Built since its inception in 2009. In other words, she has a perspective on Atlanta and community redevelopment. n n“Place matters, and it matters acutely in the trajectory of children and their economic mobility,” said Naughton, who calls herself a “neighborist,” in an interview on Jan. 23. “There are about 5,000 census tracts around the country where 30 percent of the people live below the poverty line. That’s where Purpose Built wants to work — in neighborhoods where people have been trapped in poverty.” n nPurpose Built is deeply engaged in helping transform communities, serving as a consultant. It is working with about 60 communities across the country, with about half of them being an official part of its network. n nIn the past five years, it has diversified beyond its initial three funders. The Cousins Foundation still supports the nonprofit, and it has attracted support from other major national organizations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Truist, and its largest grantor to date, Blue Meridian Partners, which awarded Purpose Built $25 million a couple of years ago. n nCoincidentally, the Blank Family Foundation announced last month that it’s awarded Blue Meridian a $75 million grant to work on a five-year economic mobility initiative in the City of Atlanta and a couple of other Georgia communities. n nAtlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has launched the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative to help transform seven economically-challenged communities in the city. n n“Purpose Built is really excited to be part of this team – the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative,” said Naughton, who is partnering with the city, the Atlanta Committee for Progress, Blue Meridian and the identified neighborhoods. “We know the answer. The question is, do we have the political will to do it? The mayor says he does, and I believe him.” n nUnder Naughton’s leadership, Purpose Built has grown significantly, from 14 people to 41, becoming more deeply involved in neighborhood transformation. By 2028, it expects to have 35 U.S. communities across its network. n nNaughton, however, is less focused on metro Atlanta’s dismal economic mobility ranking. n n“I don’t think the number is as important as the fact that people are living in pain and don’t feel they have a chance to live a better life,” Naughton said, adding her focus is on neighborhoods being the engines of change. “I’m motivated, not by the ranking of a city, but by the real opportunity people have to live a healthy, happy, choice-filled life.” n nBut the question remains. How is it that the Atlanta region is 50th out of 50 when the city has been a center of innovation in housing and neighborhood revitalization? n nPerry said the new Chetty study validates the HOPE VI model that was born in Atlanta 30 years ago. n n“Mixed-income community development works when it is pursued with discipline, consistency and time,” Perry said. “Atlanta’s last-place ranking is not an indictment of the model; it is the consequence of a policy shift made about a decade ago, when the city and AHA stepped away from an approach that had been delivering positive and indisputable results.” n nPerry was referring to the administration of former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, which had a vendetta against Renee Glover and Egbert Perry, and against his predecessor, Mayor Shirley Franklin, who became the first CEO of Purpose Built after leaving office. As a result, Atlanta’s most influential transformers of community were sidelined during the Reed administration. n n“Ironically, at the time when all major cities were looking toward Atlanta, a shift was made,” Perry said. “The takeaway for public officials is simple: when long-term strategies are interrupted for short-term political reasons, the costs show up later, in the data and in people’s lives.” n nLooking forward, Perry sees an opportunity to implement Dickens’ vision of Atlanta being the best place in the country to raise a child. n nTo fulfill that vision, Perry said it is essential for it to be “a group project,” one of Dickens’ favorite phrases. n n“The Chetty study is an opening salvo for us,” Perry said. “Comprehensive work has to be coordinated among all the parties that drive the elements it takes to create community. They have to work together towards the same goal.” n nPerry summarized it another way: n n“In an ideal world, the city, the school system, and the county would partner to support the same community projects, so you are deploying your resources in a strategic way.”