Commentary: MTO's Contribution to a Virtuous Cycle of Policy Experimentation and Learning

Moving to Opportunity (MTO) succeeded in ways no one anticipated when it was launched, generating valuable lessons and raising new questions about the effects of neighborhood distress and the potential role of assisted housing mobility. Findings to date have spurred successive rounds of policy innovation and research that test new hypotheses about how, where, and for whom neighborhoods matter and how both housing mobility and neighborhood revitalization can improve outcomes for families and kids. The significance of health outcomes in MTO research has already influenced policy and practice. This research has heightened awareness among housing policymakers and practitioners about health risks facing the families they serve. MTO's findings strongly establish the importance and benefit to families of escaping from severely distressed and dangerous neighborhoods. Moving forward, policymakers can draw on MTO findings to develop place-conscious strategies that both improve the neighborhoods in which poor people currently live and simultaneously open up wider opportunities for them to move to neighborhoods offering greater opportunities.