Concentrated Out-Migration

Ron Wilson, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) organize and clarify the patterns of human activities on the earth’s surface and their interaction with each other. GIS data, in the form of maps, can quickly and powerfully convey relationships to policymakers and the public. This department of Cityscape includes maps that convey important housing or community development policy issues or solutions. If you have made such a map and are willing to share it in a future issue of Cityscape, please contact ronald.e.wilson@hud.gov.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the official positions or policies of the Office of Policy Development and Research or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

A primary question about the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) is, “Do participants move far from their previous addresses when they relocate?” Most participants stay within the HCVP for an average of 4 years, but a small percentage of participants stay much longer. Using CrimeStat 3.3, I analyzed 2,891 HCVP participants whose Social Security numbers matched between 2000 and 2010 in the Baltimore metropolitan region to identify the mobility patterns of long-term participants.