Greg Rosalski

Raj and Matt made it very clear that it would actually be a mistake to read their research as a recommendation to just resurrect Hope Six.

As part of their research, they built an interactive map that lets you zoom in on 1,500 different neighborhoods around the country that could benefit from something like HOPE VI.

These neighborhoods with concentrated poverty that could be better connected to more affluent neighborhoods nearby.

So, how does all this look to someone who actually lived through it?

I asked Wysina, the woman who showed me around the Richard Allen Homes, what she made of this study.

Because she has this really interesting perspective on the changes that came with Hope Six.

She moved into a new Hope Six building when she was 19.

Her childhood happened in the old version of Richard Allen Homes.

She says almost all her friends growing up were from there.

But her son, he grew up in the new version.

Do you feel like your childhood was different from his childhood?

How?

Huicina says her son always did what he was told.

He was kind of a rule follower.

He was really into Legos and electronics as a kid.

Wysina's son graduated from high school about a decade ago.

He was there for a year, then he moved on to a trade school.

Wysina's son turns 30 this year, the age Raj's team looked at to see how Hope Six Kids' economic lives turned out.

Her son, he's engaged, he's got a steady job driving a semi-truck, and he's studying to get certified as an HVAC technician.

If you want to learn more about the study in this show, Greg also wrote an amazing Planet Money newsletter about it that does an incredible deep dive on the research.