The New Stigma of Relocated Public Housing Residents: Challenges to Social Identity in Mixed-Income Developments

To what extent does a change of address and transformation of the surrounding environment translate into a reduced sense of stigmatization of public housing residents? This article explores this question. Drawing from research at three new, mixed-income developments in Chicago, we examine changes in the regulatory and social environment and the perspectives and experiences of public housing residents living there. We find that although some forms of perceived stigma may have been ameliorated in these new settings, in other ways stigma and isolation has intensified.