The Legacy of the Recovery Act

By Jane C.W. Vincent

Jane C.W. Vincent

Five years ago, our country was experiencing the worst recession since the Great Depression. Millions of Americans lost their jobs and trillions of dollars in household wealth was wiped out. In the face of these challenges, President Obama understood that strong medicine was needed and just a month after taking office, working with Congress, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act became the law of the land.

Today, the impact of the Recovery Act is visible all across our nation through improved roads and bridges, a recovering housing market, and the six million jobs the law helped to create or retain. Less visible, but no less felt, are the 1.3 million families who did not fall into homelessness through the Recovery Act's investment into prevention and rapid rehousing. The law also made substantial energy-saving improvements to the nation's housing stock cutting billions of dollars in utility costs for local governments and taxpayers alike.

In addition, five years ago, local communities, like those here in Pennsylvania, were reeling from large numbers of foreclosures and facing the likelihood these vacant and abandoned homes would become blights on their neighborhoods. To prevent a broader collapse, the Recovery Act's Neighborhood Stabilization Program helped to stop the bleeding in the hardest-hit areas and contributed to the turnaround in the housing market that we're experiencing today.

Like the rest of the country, Philadelphia was hit hard by the recession. While home foreclosures did not reach to the levels felt in other cities, the foreclosure rate did increase by nearly 300 percent. This rapid increase in foreclosures, coupled with the high rates of poverty, made Philadelphia a community in desperate need of economic recovery and growth. Combined, the Recovery Act provided more than $800 million in critically needed investments throughout the City, including $44 million to tackle the impact of these foreclosures on Philly neighborhoods.

In April of 2009, HUD awarded two grants totaling $1.7 million to remove lead, mold, insects, and other hazards in low-income housing in Philadelphia. HUD also awarded $4.5 million through the Recovery Act to area contractors to perform weatherization services which not only made homes more energy efficient but created jobs in the process. These are just some of the examples of the Recovery Act at work in Philadelphia.

Public action will never replace the private marketplace when it comes to creating jobs or stimulating economic growth. But when private capital retreated in the face of the recession, it was the Recovery Act that spared us from crippling job losses, staggering homelessness and spiraling home price declines. Five years after the Recovery Act was signed into law, our economy has grown for 11 straight quarters, businesses have added millions of new jobs and we are on firmer footing to build a stronger, more sustainable economy in the years ahead.

Jane C.W. Vincent is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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