------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Will You Find True Love? Will You Meet the One? Free Love Reading by phone! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7dY7FD/R_ZEAA/Ey.GAA/tOsolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: CPPH_Info-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are 8 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. Fort Worth -- commentary on RadioShack deal by local paper From: Grant 2. Wal-Mart and HOPE VI in New Orleans From: Grant 3. Lawsuits filed to block new Wal-Mart in New Orleans From: Grant 4. Proposed Radio Shack deal on former public hsg site - Fort Worth From: Grant 5. Mixed income housing - including in Fort Worth From: Grant 6. Study of outcomes of Minneapolis desegregation From: Grant 7. Chicago Hsg Auth approves 69% reduction of Stateway Gardens From: Grant 8. Report language on HOPE VI from Senate FY2003 approps From: Grant ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 14:13:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Fort Worth -- commentary on RadioShack deal by local paper --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > > A little too quick Fort Worth Star-Telegram Edition: FINAL , Page: 8-SUMMARY- COMMENT: , Monday , July 15, 2002 , Section: Metro;Fort Worth & Region "Be careful what you wish for," the old saying goes - "you might just get it." Let us add: "And sooner than you expect it, too." That might be one way to sum up our reaction to Fort Worth's decision to grant incentives to RadioShack Corp.'s corporate headquarters downtown. In an editorial Tuesday, this newspaper called on the City Council to approve the deal that would give $67 million in property tax rebates to RadioShack Corp. in exchange for the electronic retailer's building a new $200 million corporate headquarters in Fort Worth. The council, either because of our advice or despite it, approved the agreement in a 7-2 vote on Tuesday night. Although the Editorial Board approves of the deal, it is troubled by the swiftness of the council's action. Only a few hours after the proposal's terms were made public for the first time in a Tuesday afternoon work session, it was a done deal. The council's lightning-quick approval of the agreement effectively deprived the public of any meaningful opportunity to ponder the pros and cons of the proposal and to voice opinions. A deal that was negotiated privately between RadioShack Corp. and the city for more than a year was signed off on in just a few hours. We're talking about a lot of the public's tax dollars over 30 years. The agreement's numerous provisions are difficult to digest. It's also controversial, given that many taxpayers object to large tax breaks for corporations. That said, it's also easy to understand why the city was eager to approve this deal with one of Fort Worth's original good corporate citizens. Among those factors: * RadioShack and the city's tax break negotiations had grown icy of late. The company, possibly out of frustration, had taken steps to make inquiries into relocating to other municipalities. * In the wake of flashpoints of controversy over annexation plans and the relocation of public housing residents, this council needed some good news. Keeping a longtime Fort Worth institution inside its city limits was an easy decision in that light. * Fort Worth's sweetheart deal to lure Dell inside its city limits had already created the incentive template. The sentiment: You'd better give as good a deal to a local company as you would offer to one with headquarters just outside Austin. There's no sense in turning back the clock on this particular deal. Yes, let's move forward with the RadioShack agreement, which will benefit both city and company, but let us also suggest that a priority be placed on public comment for future arrangements. In any corporate tax break proposal spanning decades and involving millions, the council should allow time - perhaps two weeks - for residents to comment on it. In the past, the Star-Telegram Editorial Board has chastised the council for dragging its feet on resolution of various issues. But it's unwise to go to the opposite extreme and approve multimillion-dollar agreements in the blink of an eye. It's the public's money we're talking about, and any such action involving it should have a thorough public airing before being subjected to a final vote. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 13:45:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Wal-Mart and HOPE VI in New Orleans --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > > Board OKs financing for N.O. Wal-Mart > > Bonds still need final approval > > 07/23/02 > > By Ed Anderson > Capital bureau/ > The New Orleans Times-Picayune > > BATON ROUGE -- Despite opposition from preservationists, > the State Bond > Commission voted 11-2 Monday for preliminary approval of > a $30 million bond > issue to finance construction of a 200,000-square-foot > Wal-Mart Supercenter > in the Lower Garden District and another $29 million > issue to help > redevelop the site of the former St. Thomas public > housing complex with > low- and moderate-income homes. > > The commission is expected to vote on final approval for > the bonds at its > September meeting. The bonds for both projects will be > issued through the > New Orleans Industrial Development Board. > > Preservationists who filed state and federal lawsuits > last week claiming > the projects are not following the required planning > process asked the > panel to delay a vote until all the legal requirements > are met. > > Lawyer William Borah, president of Smart Growth for > Louisiana, said the New > Orleans City Planning Commission attached 33 conditions > to the Wal-Mart > construction request, but the City Council threw those > out and attached 40 > others more friendly to the store. The public did not > have a chance to > fully review or comment on the substitute provisos, he > said. > > Pres Kabacoff, whose company is developing the site for > commercial and > residential use, said any further delay will jeopardize > the $25 million the > federal government is making available for the housing > component of the > development under the HOPE VI program. > > "The project is 2˝ years old, and if we don't move it > along, HUD (the > federal Department of Housing and Urban Development) will > pull the grant," > Kabacoff said. "They have been threatening to do it for > the last six > months. I don't want to send any message to the federal > government" that it > may be delayed even more. > > The housing bonds are for the first 120 duplex and > four-plex units to be > built on the St. Thomas site. > > The bond panel gave preliminary approval last year to $21 > million in bonds > to finance construction of the housing units. The $8 > million added for the > new issue approved Monday will cover increased > construction costs. > > The Wal-Mart bonds, to be backed by payments the store > will make in lieu of > property taxes, will include $17.4 million for > construction of the store > and $12.5 million for land acquisition. > > The entire retail and housing program will cost about > $330 million, > Kabacoff said. > > State Senate President John Hainkel, R-New Orleans, and > Sen. Paulette > Irons, D-New Orleans, voted against the two issues, > saying the proposals > need more work. > > Noting that there are other levels of local approval > still pending, Hainkel > told Kabacoff, "You should have gotten everything in > order before coming > here for preliminary approval. . . . There are still > things to be worked > out. The size and scope of the Wal-Mart, that's the > issue. . . . You can't > get up and down Magazine Street now" because of traffic. > > Irons said no one opposes the construction of new housing > at the St. Thomas > site, where plans call for middle-income and upscale > families to live in > the same neighborhood as low-income families. But she > said the request > "isn't complete yet. . . . You should have your ducks in > a row when you > come up here." > > Hainkel said he also has a problem with the fact that the > city will have to > give up tax revenue from the store to help build the > housing and commercial > developments. > > Former New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy, now an > executive with > Kabacoff's company, said the store will create 500 new > jobs, which will > generate taxes for the city. > > But preservationists opposed the Wal-Mart's inclusion in > the St. Thomas > plan. > > "We are concerned about the impact of this project" on > the Lower Garden > District, said Patricia Gay, executive director of the > Preservation > Resource Center. "It is not a net gain when you build > something and then > destroy something," she said, warning that the giant > store will overwhelm a > fragile neighborhood. > > But Sen. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge, said that based on > the numbers > provided, the issue seems viable, and that should be the > commission's main > concern. "Our job is not to be a zoning board and not > decide on what is > best for the city of New Orleans," he said. "It is not up > to us to get > involved in a zoning dispute." > > State Treasurer John Kennedy, chairman of the commission, > urged the two > sides to try to work out a compromise on the scope of > Wal-Mart before the > September commission meeting. > > . . . . . . . > > Ed Anderson can be reached at eanderson@timespicayune.com > or (225) Board OKs financing for N.O. Wal-Mart Bonds still need final approval 07/23/02 By Ed Anderson Capital bureau/ The New Orleans Times-Picayune BATON ROUGE -- Despite opposition from preservationists, the State Bond Commission voted 11-2 Monday for preliminary approval of a $30 million bond issue to finance construction of a 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Lower Garden District and another $29 million issue to help redevelop the site of the former St. Thomas public housing complex with low- and moderate-income homes. The commission is expected to vote on final approval for the bonds at its September meeting. The bonds for both projects will be issued through the New Orleans Industrial Development Board. Preservationists who filed state and federal lawsuits last week claiming the projects are not following the required planning process asked the panel to delay a vote until all the legal requirements are met. Lawyer William Borah, president of Smart Growth for Louisiana, said the New Orleans City Planning Commission attached 33 conditions to the Wal-Mart construction request, but the City Council threw those out and attached 40 others more friendly to the store. The public did not have a chance to fully review or comment on the substitute provisos, he said. Pres Kabacoff, whose company is developing the site for commercial and residential use, said any further delay will jeopardize the $25 million the federal government is making available for the housing component of the development under the HOPE VI program. "The project is 21/2 years old, and if we don't move it along, HUD (the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development) will pull the grant," Kabacoff said. "They have been threatening to do it for the last six months. I don't want to send any message to the federal government" that it may be delayed even more. The housing bonds are for the first 120 duplex and four-plex units to be built on the St. Thomas site. The bond panel gave preliminary approval last year to $21 million in bonds to finance construction of the housing units. The $8 million added for the new issue approved Monday will cover increased construction costs. The Wal-Mart bonds, to be backed by payments the store will make in lieu of property taxes, will include $17.4 million for construction of the store and $12.5 million for land acquisition. The entire retail and housing program will cost about $330 million, Kabacoff said. State Senate President John Hainkel, R-New Orleans, and Sen. Paulette Irons, D-New Orleans, voted against the two issues, saying the proposals need more work. Noting that there are other levels of local approval still pending, Hainkel told Kabacoff, "You should have gotten everything in order before coming here for preliminary approval. . . . There are still things to be worked out. The size and scope of the Wal-Mart, that's the issue. . . . You can't get up and down Magazine Street now" because of traffic. Irons said no one opposes the construction of new housing at the St. Thomas site, where plans call for middle-income and upscale families to live in the same neighborhood as low-income families. But she said the request "isn't complete yet. . . . You should have your ducks in a row when you come up here." Hainkel said he also has a problem with the fact that the city will have to give up tax revenue from the store to help build the housing and commercial developments. Former New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy, now an executive with Kabacoff's company, said the store will create 500 new jobs, which will generate taxes for the city. But preservationists opposed the Wal-Mart's inclusion in the St. Thomas plan. "We are concerned about the impact of this project" on the Lower Garden District, said Patricia Gay, executive director of the Preservation Resource Center. "It is not a net gain when you build something and then destroy something," she said, warning that the giant store will overwhelm a fragile neighborhood. But Sen. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge, said that based on the numbers provided, the issue seems viable, and that should be the commission's main concern. "Our job is not to be a zoning board and not decide on what is best for the city of New Orleans," he said. "It is not up to us to get involved in a zoning dispute." State Treasurer John Kennedy, chairman of the commission, urged the two sides to try to work out a compromise on the scope of Wal-Mart before the September commission meeting. . . . . . . . Ed Anderson can be reached at eanderson@timespicayune.com or (225) 342-7315. 07/23/02 > 342-7315. > > > > > > 07/23/02 > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 13:42:53 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Lawsuits filed to block new Wal-Mart in New Orleans --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > Lawsuits filed to block new Wal-Mart Groups challenge plans' handling 07/20/02 By Bruce Eggler Staff writer/The New Orleans Times-Picayune Leaders of several local preservation and neighborhood organizations filed suits Friday in both state and federal courts in an effort to block or at least delay construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Lower Garden District. The suits challenge the way the City Council, Housing Authority of New Orleans and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development handled various aspects of plans for the giant store, to be built at the edge of the former site of the St. Thomas public housing complex. The suits were filed on behalf of Smart Growth for Louisiana, the Coliseum Square Association, the Louisiana Landmarks Society, the Historic Magazine Row Association and the Urban Conservancy. Pres Kabacoff, chief executive of Historic Restoration Inc., which is redeveloping the St. Thomas site, said he had not seen the suits and did not want to comment on them in detail. Historic Restoration invited Wal-Mart to build a store on Tchoupitoulas Street. Tax revenue from the store would help finance hundreds of apartments and other living units to be built at the site. Kabacoff said the St. Thomas and Wal-Mart projects "have been studied to death and public-hearinged to death" and that he "can't imagine a court will substitute its judgment" for that of the City Council and other agencies that reviewed and approved the plans. The Civil District Court suit challenging the council's approval of the Wal-Mart focuses in part on the way the council, after hours of debate late on the night of April 18, threw out 33 provisos that the City Planning Commission wanted to attach to the ordinance approving plans for the store. The council instead approved a list of 40 provisos suggested by Wal-Mart. Store officials said some of the commission's recommendations, such as sharply reducing the amount of surface parking, were unacceptable and would cause them to abandon plans for the store. The suit alleges that: -- The substitute provisos were approved with no opportunity for review by the public or the Planning Commission, in violation of the law. "We were blindsided by last-minute changes," said John Wettermark, president of the Coliseum Square Association, at a news conference announcing the suits. -- As approved by the council, the store plans violate a legal requirement that such a development, known technically as a mixed-use planned community district, must be "compatible with . . . the character of the neighborhood" and other nearby areas. -- The city approved plans for the store without having adopted the long-term master plan for development of the city required by the City Charter, making the action invalid. The second suit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that HANO and HUD committed dozens of violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act and other federal laws in the way they handled applications for federal money and approvals for the St. Thomas redevelopment and the Wal-Mart project. The preservation law is cited because the Lower Garden District is on the National Register of Historic Places, triggering certain requirements for any projects there involving federal money. William Borah, president of Smart Growth for Louisiana and a longtime preservation leader, said, "It's illegal to give this Wal-Mart development a green light when the city, HUD and HANO have blatantly ignored existing laws." He said "citizens feel they have been treated unjustly and unfairly." Borah said he and other Wal-Mart critics have met with Mayor Ray Nagin, who asked if they would be willing to compromise. Borah said he and other critics would not object to a much smaller store at the site of the proposed 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart, which he said would be "destructive of the city." "Give us a store that reflects New Orleans, not one that reflects suburbia," Borah said. The five groups that filed the lawsuits, along with more than a dozen other neighborhood organizations, also have asked the City Council to reopen the Wal-Mart issue, which was decided about two weeks before three of the current council members took office. Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt, a new member whose district includes the site, said recently she has not decided whether to support the groups' request. . . . . . . . Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3320. 07/20/02 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 14:08:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Proposed Radio Shack deal on former public hsg site - Fort Worth Radio Shack gets a deal and Public Housing Tenants get shafted …Late last year, the Fort Worth Housing Authority officially sold the 24-acre downtown Ripley Arnold public housing complex to RadioShack for $20 million, paving the way for the 268-unit complex to be demolished. The housing authority is still trying to find mixed-income, desegregated neighborhoods citywide for its 521 residents. The property will be turned over to RadioShack after residents are at least temporarily settled….. --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: Riverfront project might get tax refund Fort Worth Star-Telegram , Edition: FINAL , Page: 1-SUMMARY- DEVELOPME , Tuesday , July 9, 2002 , Section: NEWS FORT WORTH - RadioShack Corp. stands to benefit from $96 million in tax refunds and other assistance for building a $250 million riverfront headquarters on the edge of downtown, officials disclosed Monday. The plan - one of the biggest corporate aid packages ever proposed in Tarrant County - is intended to keep one of downtown's biggest employers in Fort Worth. In turn, RadioShack would be required to meet certain employment and development targets. Under the proposed plan, Fort Worth would grant nearly $67 million in tax rebates over 30 years for the electronics retailer's new campus, to be built at the site of the Ripley Arnold housing complex. City leaders will consider that part of the plan today. In addition, Tarrant County officials are expected to consider creating a special tax district to channel about $29 million in taxes toward new roads and other improvements at the site, city and county officials said. The size of the package rivals the deal that lured American Airlines here a generation ago and others more recently offered to Intel and Dell Computer for projects that have yet to materialize. "RadioShack is not getting a free ride," Assistant City Manager Charles Boswell said. "They are still contributing a substantial amount to the community." One of the biggest gainers would be the Fort Worth school district, which city officials say would get more than $126 million in property taxes during the next 30 years. City officials say the incentives are justified because RadioShack employs 2,400 workers downtown and has been a leading corporate citizen for decades. City Council members are scheduled to discuss and vote on the agreement during today's council meeting at City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton St. Mayor Kenneth Barr and Councilman Jim Lane, whose district includes the proposed site, voiced support for the incentives Monday during a Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce news conference. "This takes Fort Worth down to the riverside," Barr said. "This is the first step in (redeveloping) the riverfront." Plans for the site include three 6-story buildings, a commons area and a manmade lake. Lane said the deal is the best news for the city since the west Fort Worth bomber plant, now home to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., became a major employer during World War II. But at least one council member, Chuck Silcox, plans to vote against the proposal. He said he doesn't like the idea of a company not having to pay taxes for 30 years. "I have a real strong concern about this," he said. "I personally think that RadioShack grabbed us by the 'uh-huh' and ... I think that's wrong. "They've got us over the barrel and they know it." Proponents say the incentives are necessary to keep one of Fort Worth's most prominent companies downtown in an era when many corporations have fled cities to build campuses on suburban sites. Separately, Pier 1 Imports plans to build a new headquarters west of downtown and is expected to also seek incentives. Leonard Roberts, Radio-Shack's chief executive, said Monday that the benefits RadioShack brings to the city outweigh the potential costs. For instance, he said that 500 to 600 of RadioShack's 40,000 employees worldwide are "cycled" through downtown Fort Worth every month for training. RadioShack also brings in partners and vendors to Fort Worth. Roberts said the company did consider moving out of downtown, noting that it already owns property on Western Center Boulevard in north Fort Worth. He also pointed out that the new corporate site downtown is in a flood plain, making it more expensive to build there. "Even with that," he said, "we will build here. We want to stay downtown." RadioShack Corp. is the successor to the Tandy empire, which began as a leather business in 1919 and grew, under the leadership of Charles Tandy, by acquiring several businesses. Radio Shack was a nine-store Boston consumer electronics chain when Tandy acquired it in 1963, and it became the mainstay of the conglomerate. There are now more than 7,200 of its stores around the world. Tandy Corp. formally changed its name to RadioShack in May 2000. The proposed incentives hinge on the company meeting several stipulations. Under the proposal, RadioShack would spend at least $200 million to build its new headquarters by June 30, 2005. At least $50 million of the construction work would go to Fort Worth contractors, and at least $20 million to certified minority- or women-owned businesses. Another stipulation would require RadioShack to employ at least 1,000 Fort Worth residents in full-time jobs at the downtown site from 2005 to 2014, at least 250 of whom must be central-city residents. >From 2005 to 2014, RadioShack would be required to spend at least $1.2 million each year with Fort Worth service and supply companies, and at least $200,000 a year with certified minority- and women-owned businesses. If the company meets the provisions, the city in return would provide "economic development grants" from 2005 to 2034 that will total $66.8 million. The first refund in 2005 - equal to the amount of property tax paid by the company to the city - would be slightly more than $1.5 million. The final refund in 2034 would be $3.1 million, Boswell said. "The grants are based on the company meeting their agreement," he said. "We are recycling back property taxes they are paying." Another part of the deal is that the city would help form a tax increment financing district, or TIF, that would encompass the campus. Funds collected through this taxing district would be funneled back to make infrastructure improvements - streets, sidewalks, street lighting - at the campus. The county, but not the city, would contribute to the TIF as part of its commitment to the project. The district should generate about $29 million in infrastructure improvements, Boswell said. County Judge Tom Vandergriff said he didn't know when the TIF would come up for a vote before the Commissioners Court. But he said he'd support it. "I think it will be a great step forward not only for the county but our entire region," he said. County Administrator G.K. Maenius said the $29 million figure depends on how the TIF improvements are financed. The TIF proposal will probably be considered by commissioners within 60 days. Boswell said that even though the city won't get additional property taxes from RadioShack, the Fort Worth school district and Tarrant County would both assess property taxes on the new facility. Late last year, the Fort Worth Housing Authority officially sold the 24-acre downtown Ripley Arnold public housing complex to RadioShack for $20 million, paving the way for the 268-unit complex to be demolished. In December, RadioShack officially announced its plans and said it had sold the Tandy Center office complex to Dallas-based PNL Cos. It is leasing space in the Tandy Center until its new complex is built. Last year, RadioShack recorded a net profit of $166.7 million, compared with $368 million in 2001. The housing authority is still trying to find mixed-income, desegregated neighborhoods citywide for its 521 residents. The property will be turned over to RadioShack after residents are at least temporarily settled. Work on the headquarters, which overlooks the large riverfront parking lot that is linked to Fort Worth Outlet Center by the city's only subway, is expected to start this year and be finished by late 2004 or early 2005. RadioShack proposal Some provisions for the proposed RadioShack economic development program agreement: * RadioShack would invest at least $200 million in real and personal property by June 30, 2005, spend at least $50 million on construction with Fort Worth contractors, and at least $20 million on construction with local minority- and women-owned businesses. * From 2005 to 2014, RadioShack would provide at least 1,000 full-time jobs at the downtown site to Fort Worth residents, and at least 250 of them would be for central-city residents. * From 2015 to 2024, the company would provide at least 750 full-time jobs at the downtown site to Fort Worth residents, and at least 200 would be for central-city residents. * From 2025 to 2034, RadioShack would provide at least 500 full-time jobs at the downtown site to Fort Worth residents, and at least 150 would be for central-city residents. * The city would help form a tax increment financing district to encompass the campus. The TIF, which is expected to generate about $29 million, would be used for infrastructure improvements around the new RadioShack headquarters. Anna M. Tinsley, (817) 390-7610 atinsley@star-telegram.com Barry Shlachter, (817) 390-7718 bshlachter@star-telegram.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 5 Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 14:37:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Mixed income housing - including in Fort Worth --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: The following is a long essay on the mixed income housing that is replacing public housing in city after city. The article says it is a success. What is the definition of success used in this article? "Most mixed-income developments are built on the sites of former public housing projects. Success means luring middle-class homeowners downtown." I couldn't have said it better (or more succinctly) myself. It is clear that these "mixed income" developments are no longer considered as having anything to do with helping the poor obtain affordable housing. Yet over $500 million of scarce public housing money is being spent each year under HOPE VI in order to achieve this 'success'. In this area, as in other provisions of federal law, middle and upper income households obtain far larger housing advantages, through direct expenditures or tax benefits, than the poor do. Does anyone think that is 'fair'? Has anyone listened to Alan Greenspan's descriptions of corporate behavior in America lately? Isn't it time to reaffirm that Americans do care about each other, and about the needs of lower income Americans in particular? Wayne Sherwood =============================================================== Mixed-income housing is a proven success elsewhere KEVIN LYONS;TODD MASON;MARIA RECIO; Credits, Star-Telegram Staff Writers Fort Worth Star-Telegram , Edition: FINAL , Page: 1-SUMMARY- HOUSING: , Monday , July 15, 2002 , Section: NEWS ROCKVILLE, Md. - Bryan Deoms didn't realize he was joining a social experiment in progress. He didn't ask what made the Timberlawn Crescent garden apartment complex unique. Management didn't volunteer. Timberlawn Crescent earns its place in history as one of the nation's earliest mixed-income housing projects. People who pay $3,300 a month for three-bedroom apartments live next door to people who pay $360 a month, based on poverty-level incomes. "We didn't know until we'd lived there about a year and a half," said Deoms, who paid the market rate. "Everyone was always friendly. It was very well taken care of." Rich and poor live side by side in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Baltimore; St. Louis; Charlotte, N.C.; Sacramento, Calif.; and a host of other cities. Done right, mixed-income housing can work in Fort Worth, too, housing experts say. "Once things are in place, people discover that there is nothing to discover," said Harold Simon, director of the National Housing Institute. To be sure, the Fort Worth Housing Authority faces a greater challenge. Most mixed-income developments are built on the sites of former public housing projects. Success means luring middle-class homeowners downtown. But the Fort Worth Housing Authority sold the 24-acre Ripley Arnold Apartments site at 500 W. Belknap St. to RadioShack Corp., which plans to build a riverfront headquarters there. To make the move palatable to Ripley Arnold residents, the Housing Authority promised to move them into more-affluent areas of the city. But to do that, the authority must build upscale, mixed-income developments or buy them. The authority's decision to build in the Cityview area of southwest Fort Worth met no serious opposition. But intense criticism arose over plans to buy the 583-unit Stonegate Villas complex and relocate 58 Ripley Arnold families there. The authority put off future purchases and has scheduled a community meeting for Saturday. The neighbors see In the meantime, Fort Worth housing officials have called for advice from their counterparts at the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, Md. No agency has a longer history (28 years) in dispersed, low-income housing, or more success at getting it done. "Our approach is that we go in very honest," Executive Director Scott Minton said. "We meet the opposition issues head-on. If you're not honest with the community, you lose all credibility." Opposition comes with the territory, says Joyce Siegel, a former commission official. Timberlawn Crescent - in which 55 percent of the apartments are leased at higher market rates and the rest have their rents subsidized - met fierce resistance 13 years ago, she said. "The people there were up in arms when it was built in 1989," she said. "It was like going to a lynching every night." But Timberlawn Crescent won over its neighbors. "There isn't a problem," said Charles Stansfield, a member of the Timberlawn South homeowners association, which led the opposition. "We borrow their clubhouse for our meetings." Even so, the different economic classes aren't necessarily living happily ever after in Montgomery County. Apart from signature properties like Timberlawn, commission officials "have not been as successful at keeping the riffraff out," said Mike Potter, whose real estate management firm tends a private development next door. "You're betting on people being able to do it right." Timberlawn "is not like your normal HOC complex," Potter said. "They have on-site, professional management 24-7. They have a day-care center. It's really plush." Timberlawn fits its surroundings, Minton answers. "HOC doesn't have any properties that stand out (as) a real slum," he said. A vision of inclusion At first blush, the Washington suburbs seem like a poor proxy for Fort Worth. Most of Montgomery County's 1 million residents owe their livelihoods in some way to the seat of government downstream on the Potomac River. The median household income in Montgomery County is about $90,000, about 50 percent more than the median income at Stonegate Villas. Montgomery County residents accept legislation that would provoke bitter fights in Fort Worth, such as the county ordinance passed in 1973 requiring that 12 1/2 percent of major real estate developments be designed as "affordable housing." Residents there can earn at most $33,500 to $52,000, depending on family size. Buyers of affordable housing agree to share capital gains with the county when they sell. They also agree to cap their asking price and offer their units first to other low-income buyers if they sell in 10 years or less. The county's share of capital gains goes to the housing commission, which also manages affordable-housing set-asides in rental developments. The commission uses its cash to buy and build mixed-income housing, with some units set aside for residents earning $18,000 or less. But Maryland residents have plenty in common with Texans, judging from Minton's accounts of the battles over these projects. Minton said the opponents ask what the housing is going to do to property values. "People are also concerned: Will they keep up the yard, follow community norms?" Minton said. "It's never couched in ethnic terms but in economic terms." Not everyone's happy Opposition is often colorblind. Next door, in predominantly black Prince George's County, Md., officials repealed an affordable housing ordinance. In Atlanta, middle-class black homeowners have challenged mixed-income housing projects. Anxieties are also higher in Montgomery County's more modest neighborhoods. Silver Spring neighborhood groups hired lawyer Norman Knopf about five years ago to challenge the housing commission's distribution of low-income housing. "The Housing Opportunities Commission would buy apartments where they're cheap, and then you'd get a concentration," Knopf said. Declining neighborhoods are more vulnerable to low-income housing than affluent neighborhoods are. Dan Meijer, one of Knopf's former clients in Silver Spring, says that the commission got the message. The dumping problem "goes away when decision-makers know that the neighborhood they've targeted is organized," he said. Minton acknowledged that the commission's developments in Silver Spring are moderate mixed-income rather than high mixed but said: "They don't have drug raids. There's no known crime problem." But "high mixed" properties such as Timberlawn Crescent have another edge over ordinary mixed-income housing: perks. The Metropolitan, in downtown Bethesda, is the commission's crown jewel. A concierge hovers in its marble-clad foyer. Residents can use the fitness center and swimming pool. Subsidized renters "know they're in a good situation, and they don't want to jeopardize it," said Sherri Nugent, one of the Metropolitan's managers. Lady Lee moved to the Metropolitan three years ago from a modest neighborhood near Silver Spring. "It's no comparison," she said. Acculturation issues Fort Worth, tackling dispersal in the opposite direction, has a steeper hill to climb, said John McIlwain, a research fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington. "The key is management," he said. "It's screening the people who come into the program. It's not so much about income as it is about character and responsibility." Close screening means that some public housing residents will be placed with great difficulty, if at all, McIlwain said. "Frequently, there are fewer units available, period," he said. Public housing residents can experience a culture shock of sorts when they move into more expensive neighborhoods. "If I'm accustomed to hanging my drawers on the banister and devaluing my property," said John Wesley, an assistant director for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, "you can't expect me to move into your neighborhood and understand your rationale for not putting drawers on the banister. "How do you get people to understand that? You need to have a period of acculturation." The Atlanta Housing Authority inspected homes in its public housing projects before making the transition. Tenants who lacked minimum standards of housekeeping were asked to leave, authority spokesman Rick White said. Charlotte puts prospective tenants through a 13-month training program, said Vonzennia Gore, the director in charge. Graduates "get to see how others live," she said. "A lot of them have lived in communities where nobody went to work." The Chicago Housing Authority adopted a one-strike rule for mixed-income housing tenants, according to authority spokesman Derrick Hill. "You can't play loud music at 3 o'clock in the morning," he said. "If your 18-year-old-son is picked up for crack, he is liable to get kicked off the property, and the whole family can get kicked off, too." The result can be startling. White says the Atlanta authority has hundreds of names on waiting lists for its market-rate apartments. In Chicago, on the former site of the Cabrini-Green public housing, whose gallery-style high-rises came to symbolize the ugly side of public housing with its high crime rates and dilapidated housing stock, townhouses that sold for $200,000 in 1999 now command $350,000, Hill said. Kevin Lyons, (817) 390-7675 kevinlyons@star-telegram.com Todd Mason, (817) 390-7552 Toddm@star-telegram.com Maria Recio, (202) 383-6103 mrecio@krwashington.com > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 6 Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 14:42:18 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Study of outcomes of Minneapolis desegregation --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: Public-housing survey: Mixed satisfaction Relocated tenants give new homes tepid review Nolan Zavoral Staff Writer More than 300 low-income families who moved as a result of a 1992 desegregation lawsuit in Minneapolis have given the outcome mixed reviews, according to a report to be released today after a three-year study. Compared with other residents of public housing, the relocated families were happier with the quality of their homes and had fewer public-safety concerns, but ``in terms of consistent and positive elements, it was limited to those things,'' said the study's author, Edward Goetz of the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban Regional Affairs. Although the lawsuit was settled in 1995 with the intent of spreading public housing throughout the metro area, nearly 90 percent of the relocated families still lived in Minneapolis, the study found. In addition, the relocations did not have an impact on job status or wages. More than 700 public-housing units were razed on the city's Near North Side as a result of the Hollman Consent Decree, the 1995 settlement of the lawsuit. About 440 families were displaced. The Center for Urban Regional Affairs began the $250,000 study in 1998 under contract with the Family Housing Fund and the state of Minnesota. It was considered the first large-scale opportunity in the nation to compare voluntary and involuntary relocation efforts in the same housing market. More than 600 people were interviewed, Goetz said, including a number of those who were displaced and a comparison group of people living in public housing in neighborhoods with poverty or a concentration of minorities. Based on questions concerning eight neighborhood characteristics, the relocated families expressed no more satisfaction with their new neighborhoods than those in the comparison group did. Goetz, a research associate at the center and a professor of regional and urban planning at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, said he was surprised that the two groups did not differ more in their assessments on key issues, including the quality of schools in their neighborhoods. Does that mean that desegregation doesn't work? ``I'm not sure I'd go that far,'' Goetz said. ``At the very least, it means that Minneapolis isn't like Chicago and Baltimore and Los Angeles and other places that have been studied. ``Public housing in Minneapolis, although it's bad, and not many of us would volunteer to live there . . . the change in environment for families is simply not as dramatic.'' He said that attitudes might change as the years pass. ``The funders have talked about repeating this in five or 10 years - and you might see something change farther out,'' he said. . A slow pace The site of the former housing projects is to become a new mixed-income neighborhood including some public housing, and other replacement housing is being built throughout the metro area. But progress has been slow. As of February, according to the report, 429 replacement units were in use across the region, with Woodbury and Shakopee having the most units outside of Minneapolis. Goetz said that ``clearly all parties involved would have wanted it to turn out differently.'' But he said, ``I wasn't a watchdog in this. I was more directed to look at impacts.'' Karla Weigold, an affordable-housing advocate who lives in public housing in north Minneapolis, said the slowness in building affordable housing in general still is being felt. ``They're thousands of units behind in trying to catch up,'' she said. ``That's why you have the numbers of children going homeless today. There's no place for them to go. ``You get a voucher - yippie - what good does it do if there's no place to go?'' Officials of the Minneapolis NAACP, which backed the lawsuit, could not be reached on Monday. . - Nolan Zavoral is at nzavoral@startribune.com . KEY FINDINGS Hollman study - Of 440 families relocated from public housing in Minneapolis as a result of the Hollman decree, seven of eight remained in the city, and more than half stayed within 3 miles of the razed housing projects. - Most moved to neighborhoods with higher median incomes, higher employment rates and less poverty. But half moved to neighborhoods that still meet the decree's definition of poverty level, or having a concentration of minorities. - Those relocated are no more likely to be employed, earn higher wages, work more hours or have greater career opportunities. - Compared with other public housing families, those relocated reported higher satisfaction with the cost, size and quality of their new homes. - 16 percent of the families bought homes. Families of Southeast Asian descent were more likely to do so (25 percent) than whites (6 percent) or blacks (4 percent). - As of February, 429 of the 770 planned replacement units were in use. Most of the progress has occurred since 1999. . Source: Center for Urban Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 7 Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 14:28:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Chicago Hsg Auth approves 69% reduction of Stateway Gardens --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > CHA approves rehab projects Chicago Sun-Times July 17, 2002 BY KATE N. GROSSMAN STAFF REPORTER Redevelopment of one of the CHA's most notorious and decaying high-rise projects into a 1,300-unit mixed-income community won approval from the CHA's board Tuesday, starting a long-awaited spending spree for the authority. The Chicago Housing Authority is under pressure from the federal government and advocates to spend money on new housing as part of its $1.6 billion, 10-year plan to rebuild public housing, and it's doing that to the tune of $58 million for this project at Stateway Gardens. "There is a fair amount of pressure from the mayor, the residents, from everywhere," said CHA chief Terry Peterson. The board also approved a 650-unit rehab job at the Hilliard Homes, for planning the rehab of 900 u nits on the South Side and for spending $35 million rehabbing 1,000 "scattered site" apartments. "These are the commitments we made and we're following through on them," Peterson, who just completed his second year as CEO, said at a board meeting. The hope is that the Stateway redevelopment, a mix of low-rises, townhomes and single family homes between 35th and 39th streets, can serve as an anchor for a redeveloped State Street corridor, once home to four miles of high-rise ghettos. The redevelopment will cost $300 million in private and public money and is in the hands of a powerhouse private development team including such clout-heavy firms as the Walsh Group, the Davis Group and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Their plan won a national design award last month. "In the late 1990s, they were just going to run Stateway into the ground. Now we're about to make history," said Francine Washington, a resident leader who helped craft the plan. The housing mix will be equal parts public housing, affordable units and apartments renting or selling at market rate. About 440 public housing units will replace 557 occupied units, [out of 1,414 units in the development, a 69% reduction —ed.] Washington said. Half the units will be for sale, with the proceeds offsetting the costs of maintaining the public housing. Construction is to start late this year or early next year. In another action, the board revamped its relocation program in an effort to steer families from moving to high-poverty neighborhoods. Now, about 76 percent move during redevelopment to poor areas, sometimes worse than what they left behind. The CHA increased the number of agencies counseling families and is requiring them to show families at least one apartment in a better-off neighborhood. About 500 families are expected to use vouchers to relocate to apartments this year. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 8 Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 13:58:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Report language on HOPE VI from Senate FY2003 approps --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > Report language about HOPE VI accompanying FY2003 Senate Appropriations Bill July 25, 2002 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The "Revitalization of severely distressed public housing" account makes awards to public housing authorities on a competitive basis to demolish obsolete or failed developments or to revitalize, where appropriate, sites upon which these developments exist. This is a focused effort to eliminate public housing which was, in many cases, poorly located, ill-designed, and not well constructed. Such unsuitable housing has been very expensive to operate, and difficult to manage effectively due to multiple deficiencies. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION. The committee recommends an appropriation of $574,000,000 for the "HOPE VI" account, the same as the budget request and the same as the fiscal year 2002 enacted level. The committee urges the Department to continue funding innovative projects that work both as public and mixed-income housing as well as building blocks to revitalizing neighborhoods. Of the amount provided under this account, $5,000,000 is for a Neighborhood Networks Initiative in HOPE VI developments. These are additional funds for the development and operation of computer centers, and are not intended to supplant grants for computer centers that are made to PHAs in the normal HOPE VI process. The committee has included bill language to sunset the HOPE VI program on September 30, 2003. The Committee is taking this action because of concerns over the future and mandate of the HOPE VI program. Since the inception of the HOPE VI program, HUD has approved the demolition of approximately 140,000 units. The Committee directs the department to submit a report by June 15, 2003 on the number and location of severely distressed public housing units that are in need of substantial revitalization or demolition. Further, the Committee urges the Department to use the lessons learned since the inception of the HOPE VI program to inform its reauthorization proposal. Successful HOPE VI developments have spurred the revitalization of low-income neighborhoods and provided new opportunities to residents of public housing. The Committee urges the Department to submit legislation that would codify those practices used by PHAs that have successfully implemented the HOPE VI program. The Committee stresses the importance of a meaningful reauthorization process, and urges the Department to work with the appropriate authorizing committees to make HOPE VI a viable program for future years. funding innovative projects that work both as public and mixed-income housing as well as building blocks to revitalizing neighborhoods. Of the amount provided under this account, $5,000,000 is for a Neighborhood Networks Initiative in HOPE VI developments. These are additional funds for the development and operation of computer centers, and are not intended to supplant grants for computer centers that are made to PHAs in the normal HOPE VI process. The committee has included bill language to sunset the HOPE VI program on September 30, 2003. The Committee is taking this action because of concerns over the future and mandate of the HOPE VI program. Since the inception of the HOPE VI program, HUD has approved the demolition of approximately 140,000 units. The Committee directs the department to submit a report by June 15, 2003 on the number and location of severely distressed public housing units that are in need of substantial revitalization or demolition. Further, the Committee urges the Department to use the lessons learned since the inception of the HOPE VI program to inform its reauthorization proposal. Successful HOPE VI developments have spurred the revitalization of low-income neighborhoods and provided new opportunities to residents of public housing. The Committee urges the Department to submit legislation that would codify those practices used by PHAs that have successfully implemented the HOPE VI program. The Committee stresses the importance of a meaningful reauthorization process, and urges the Department to work with the appropriate authorizing committees to make HOPE VI a viable program for future years. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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