Galveston County Daily News
Rhiannon Meyers // December 25, 2009
The new public housing philosophy of dispersing public housing residents across a region instead of segregating the poor in one city may not work in Galveston County, experts said.The federal government in recent years has pushed public housing agencies to spread housing over entire regions in an attempt to provide better opportunities for families lumped together in poor, crime-ridden cities with low-performing schools, John Powell, executive director of Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, said.
However, regional public housing isn’t successful without solid public transportation, an abundance of low-skilled, entry-level jobs and places where the uninsured can get health care, experts said.
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Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Altering public housing laws
AL.com
John S. Peck // December 24, 2009
The battle over public housing's spread into south Huntsville will shift to the Big House next year - the Alabama Statehouse.
Two Madison County legislators plan to re-introduce legislation that would curb the power of municipal housing authorities.
The measure by state Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, and state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would end eminent domain authority of public housing authorities and require local government consent before authorities can purchase property for affordable housing.
Eminent domain, the practice of government seizing property against the will of property owners, hasn't been used in any Huntsville Housing Authority acquisitions. All of its purchases have been on the open market.
Houses of late, including one on Gallatin Street in the medical district and another on Drummond Road in southeast Huntsville, were bought to renovate and resell to income-qualified buyers.
Orr and Ball say their main intent is to add "transparency" so neighborhoods don't get blindsided by government housing.
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John S. Peck // December 24, 2009
The battle over public housing's spread into south Huntsville will shift to the Big House next year - the Alabama Statehouse.
Two Madison County legislators plan to re-introduce legislation that would curb the power of municipal housing authorities.
The measure by state Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, and state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would end eminent domain authority of public housing authorities and require local government consent before authorities can purchase property for affordable housing.
Eminent domain, the practice of government seizing property against the will of property owners, hasn't been used in any Huntsville Housing Authority acquisitions. All of its purchases have been on the open market.
Houses of late, including one on Gallatin Street in the medical district and another on Drummond Road in southeast Huntsville, were bought to renovate and resell to income-qualified buyers.
Orr and Ball say their main intent is to add "transparency" so neighborhoods don't get blindsided by government housing.
MORE
Alternative site sought for senior housing in Orchard Park
The Buffalo News
Barbara O'Brien // December 17, 2009
The attorney for People Inc. is exploring an alternative site for subsidized senior citizen housing in Orchard Park or West Seneca.
Meanwhile, a Town Board member lashed out at the not-for-profit agency for accusing Orchard Park of discrimination in a proposed senior citizen complex.
“This entire community is disappointed in People Inc. They insulted our community,” Councilman David R. Kaczor said during a work session before Wednesday’s board meeting. “I would like to see an apology by People Inc.”
Attorney Ralph C. Lorigo told Orchard Park Town Board members that there are locations at Houghton College in West Seneca and on California Drive in Orchard Park that may be suitable for senior citizen housing.
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Barbara O'Brien // December 17, 2009
The attorney for People Inc. is exploring an alternative site for subsidized senior citizen housing in Orchard Park or West Seneca.
Meanwhile, a Town Board member lashed out at the not-for-profit agency for accusing Orchard Park of discrimination in a proposed senior citizen complex.
“This entire community is disappointed in People Inc. They insulted our community,” Councilman David R. Kaczor said during a work session before Wednesday’s board meeting. “I would like to see an apology by People Inc.”
Attorney Ralph C. Lorigo told Orchard Park Town Board members that there are locations at Houghton College in West Seneca and on California Drive in Orchard Park that may be suitable for senior citizen housing.
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Unwelcome mat out for project to house chronically homeless
Dallas Morning News
Kim Horner // December 13, 2009
Kim Horner // December 13, 2009
Developer Larry Hamilton has been working for months to turn the empty Plaza Hotel south of downtown Dallas into homes for the homeless. But it's been much tougher than he imagined.
Hamilton and other developers complain of roadblocks even as they try to carry out the city's goal of opening 700 apartments for the homeless by 2014. The housing, which would come with mental health and addiction services, is considered the most effective way to clear the streets of the hard-core homeless.
But Dallas has lagged behind other major cities in creating the units. Public financing, neighborhood cooperation and political will are all in short supply in a city that has been able to raise millions for arts projects, a convention center hotel and Calatrava bridges over the Trinity River. "They have this aspiration to do 700 units, but I think it's going to be hard to do any," Hamilton said. "I don't see how it's going to get done."
LA -- Race is factor in affordable-housing outcry, lawyer says
DailyComet.com
Naomi King // December 13, 2009
HOUMA — In a letter to Terrebonne Parish officials, a lawyer representing an affordable-rent development in Gray says opposition by local residents is racially motivated.
Naomi King // December 13, 2009
HOUMA — In a letter to Terrebonne Parish officials, a lawyer representing an affordable-rent development in Gray says opposition by local residents is racially motivated.
But some residents and parish officials said race doesn't have anything to do with the ongoing debate about Three Oaks. Neighbors — mostly from Southern Estates — have said decreased property values, neighborhood aesthetics, drainage, crime, traffic and overcrowded schools are among their concerns.
The Parish Council will discuss the development at its Community Development and Planning Committee meeting, which starts at 5:45 p.m. Monday. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be in the Government Tower's second-floor meeting room, 8026 Main St.
MOREStatement from NLIHC President Sheila Crowley on HUD’S Rejection of Texas’s Disaster Plan
CommonDreams.org
November 20, 2009
November 20, 2009
he National Low Income Housing Coalition joins housing advocates from Texas in applauding the decision by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to reject the plan submitted by the state of Texas on how the state would use Hurricane Ike disaster recovery funds.
Housing advocates in Texas objected to the state plan primarily because it failed to assure that low and moderate income Texans who lost their homes or whose homes were damaged in Hurricane Ike would be assisted. After conducting their review of what the state proposed, HUD officials agreed with the advocates that the plan did not meet federal CDBG requirements.
In a letter to Texas Governor Rick Perry, HUD Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development Mercedes Marquez notified him that these requirements had not been met and more than $1.7 billion in Community Development Block Grants would be withheld until they were. The state now has 45 days to resubmit its plan.
HUD based its denial on Texas's failure to provide an adequate method of distribution of the funds that would allow the public to exercise its right to comment on where the funds would be spent and who would benefit. Federal law requires that states who receive CDBG funding for disaster recovery detail how the funds will be allocated to local units of government and that the state notify the public of the state action plan and give the public an opportunity to comment.
MORELA Parish Neighbors Voice Opposition to Development
Houma Today
Naomi King // November 20, 2009
HOUMA — More than 40 residents voiced strong opposition Thursday to a planned residential and commercial development in Gray that Terrebonne Parish government is helping finance with $10 million in hurricane-recovery grants doled out after the 2008 storms.
Naomi King // November 20, 2009
HOUMA — More than 40 residents voiced strong opposition Thursday to a planned residential and commercial development in Gray that Terrebonne Parish government is helping finance with $10 million in hurricane-recovery grants doled out after the 2008 storms.
The 144-acre subdivision, which would include a golf course, grocery store, day care center, two hotels, 335 low-rent apartments and roughly 100 single-home lots, would be built off La. 24 south of U.S. 90, between Evergreen Drive and Marietta Place. The grant money will be used to build the multi-family units as part of the state's requirement that the $10 million be spent on affordable rental housing.
Residents, overwhelming from the Southern Estates subdivision, feared the homes and apartments would alter the character of their neighborhood, drive down their property values or bring crime onto their streets.
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