Public Housing in Columbia (Irmo: low income, for sale, crime)

[kimbo123]

Where are the public housing projects or Low income areas in Columbia and what are they called? I know there may be a lot, but I want to know what areas to avoid while we search online for a place to live. We want to move to Irmo so I guess I would like to concentrate in the surrounding counties. Thanks for your advice and response in advance.

[Nausikaa]

Originally Posted by kimbo123

Where are the public housing projects or Low income areas in Columbia and what are they called? I know there may be a lot, but I want to know what areas to avoid while we search online for a place to live. We want to move to Irmo so I guess I would like to concentrate in the surrounding counties. Thanks for your advice and response in advance.

I don't believe there are any in Irmo. I think they are all in the city of Columbia. Some around Providence Hospital.

[GoPadge]

The one across from Providence is the only large public house area I know of. They closed Henley Homes a few years ago and the last time I saw (2004) it was all grass. Even without the proliferation of public housing, there are several areas that I would be leery of in the city.

[kimbo123]

Thanks, this is good to know I just want my kids to be able to play without me watching them every second . In Md they knocked down all of the high rise public housing and took thousands of poor people and mixed them in with homeowners and sent some to surrounding counties. This plan didn't work out so good in my opinion. I just wanted a heads up as to where these areas are in Columbia. Thanks.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by kimbo123

Thanks, this is good to know I just want my kids to be able to play without me watching them every second . In Md they knocked down all of the high rise public housing and took thousands of poor people and mixed them in with homeowners and sent some to surrounding counties. This plan didn't work out so good in my opinion. I just wanted a heads up as to where these areas are in Columbia. Thanks.

These posts struck a nerve with me; why should lower income people all have to live in the same place? IMO, that is what causes problems. Plenty of crimes are committed in areas away from public housing.

[GoPadge]

You make a valid point, and I'm sure it's been debated for centuries. I know why it tends to happen, most people want to live, work and associate with people like them. The ideology and logic that identifies us as people: race, religion, school, town, state, country, etc, is the key to defining what "like" represents.

If we could redefine "us" into broader classifications, I think we could find it easier to break down the barriers that separate us, and get to the honest business of improving all of our lives.

I graduated from Dreher and lived a half dozen blocks from Henley Homes. There was more property crime as you got closer to there, but I never had any problems driving by there. (And it was quicker to take Holt and Superior to Rosewood Dr, than it was to go up to Rosewood if you were headed to Assembly St.) There were some good kids that came from that project, that did well in school and worked hard at improving their lot in life.

I think sometimes a part of the problem today, is that we often get too caught up in our own lives, and many don't take the time to even work on the relationships with our immediate neighbors, much less those who could really use our words of encouragement, wisdom and advice.

[kimbo123]

I'm sorry that I struck a nerve waccamatt. I never said they all have to live in one place. Have either of you ever lived in low income areas or have you ever been low income? I have. My husband and myself are two of the fortunate ones who made it out of the ghetto. We do excellent for ourselves now and we have 3 kids to think about. I don't know how low income and housing projects are in SC. But my experience is Drugs, murder,gangs, and prostitution. Now that they have knocked down all the high rise buildings and then toke all the low income and spread them all across the city and surrounding counties now crime is everywhere gangs are everywhere. Neighborhoods that used to be good are going bad. Most poor people I know are trapped in their minds. Their self esteem is so low they beleive that they can't do anything. A word of encouragement, wisdom or advice from you who are doing a little better than them is considered you thinking you are better than them.
I will apologize for classifing all Low income areas as the same. But I honestly assumed they were all the same. All I want is a safe place for my kids with good schools in a place that we all love, SC. I want them to have a fair chance in life because they are good kids. In Baltimore they don't and they won't have a chance. The next time I will be sure to word my thread better.

[waccamatt]

Kimbo, I certainly understand your desire for your kids to be safe; everyone wants that and yes, the tendency is that more property crime occurs in lower income areas. My basic point is that if lower income people didn't all live in the same place, then people of all class and income backgrounds would interact more - my reasoning for believing it helps everyone if small lower income developments (like 10-20 units) were scattered across all areas. If this happened, imo (idealistic, I know), you wouldn't have big discrepancies in schools from neighborhood to neighborhood and crime also might not be as bad. I apologize to Kimbo, I know you just want to have a safe place for your kids.

As stated earlier, there are very few large public housing projects in Columbia any more. The Columbia Housing Authority has been concentrating on creating very small developments in a wider area with alot more opportunities for home ownership. Here is an example of one place where a large public housing development once stood and is being replaced by a mix of single family owner-occupied homes and duplexes.

[kimbo123]

They did that here in Baltimore already. The houses they built were very nice 75% were for sale the others went to low income. Let me tell you what happened. The homeowners are outside planting their pretty flowers while the low income let their kids trample the grass and flowers while they play all hours of the night. You get hard working people trying to get a good nights sleep but the dirt bikes and the loud noises won't let them because people who don't work sleep all day and hang out all night. They spread the low income out but the gang members still have their gangs and they bring their disagreements to good neighborhoods. Of course Baltimore is 650,000 or more people so the severity of the problem is probably worse than any low income area Columbia, SC.