Relocation: The Impact on Housing Welfare

San Francisco's first redevelopment project in the Western Addition has involved the displacement of some 4,000 households. Most of these had extremely low incomes and, before clearance of the area, paid very low rents for quite poor housing accommodations. A study of the relocation files shows that as a result of the project most of these households now pay considerably more rent for divellings which are apparently of higher average quality. Little overcrowding was in evidence either before or after relocation. Households tended to move to adjacent areas where similar types of dwelling units were available. Some of the adjacent areas will be cleared in subsequent projects, and many of these households will be displaced once more.