I didn't remember ACORN being one of the players- ISTR most of them were local do-gooder groups and associations, most of them only one notch away from being faith-based organizations. (ie, most of the board members were preachers and church elders and such.) HUD signed a contract with them to manage certain properties, and gave them the authority to boot troublemakers and druggies and non-payers. (the latter not being a big issue, since most of these places are section 8, and the tenant never actually sees the money.) They also threw defensible perimeters around most of the places, or at least made them into cul-de-sacs by blocking most of the street entry points, and arranged with the cops to have a heavy presence with mini-stations and such.
A place like that would feel like a prison to me, but to a young mama with 10 year old kids, who heretofore was afraid to let them play outside, it might look pretty good.