PHILADELPHIA Despite Section 8 voucher program, many lack healthy living conditions

The supply of subsidized units is not keeping up with the demand.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- More needy residents get vouchers to rent from private landlords than get apartments in housing projects as federal government policy seeks to move people out of decaying high-rise towers into new neighborhoods.
But the federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program has its own problems, say critics, who include other renters and homeowners and even public housing officials.
The change has been dramatic over the last 10 years at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the nation's fourth-largest public housing agency.
The number of families getting rent subsidies through Section 8 has jumped almost 70 percent, from 9,200 a year to 15,500 a year.
Demolition
Over the same period, the Housing Authority has been demolishing the old buildings it operated, and the number of apartments in housing projects has dropped from a peak of 23,000 to 11,800 this year.
Where dilapidated, crime-ridden towers once stood, the Housing Authority is building suburban-style townhouses in an effort to create communities that house families with a range of incomes and avoid trapping the needy in cramped ghettos. But they are much smaller than the old developments.
Even with the voucher program, many people need a place to live. Advocates estimate that about 33,000 poor Philadelphia families either are homeless or living in slum conditions. And both the Section 8 and public housing programs have waiting lists of nearly 18,000 families.
Data analysis
An analysis of housing authority data by The Philadelphia Inquirer indicates that some areas, including parts of Southwest and Northeast Philadelphia, have seen an influx of hundreds of Section 8 renters in the last five years, leading to tensions between renters and homeowners who say their property values are threatened.
Philadelphians have complained about disruptive Section 8 tenants and irresponsible landlords who threaten property values, and political leaders have continued to promised to improve the system.
Mayor John F. Street recently listed reforms such as criminal background checks for tenants, a "strike force" of detectives and inspectors who help speed up evictions and new training for landlords.