Victoria Courts - Victoria Commons (San Antonio, Poteet: low income, section 8, apartment complexes)

[Schaertl]

When Victoria Courts was demolished, about how many people lived there and where were they relocated?

[debiSA]

sad that nis o one cares or kIt nows the answer to your question. I lived there until I was 13- about three years before the demolition. It was on the news that an elderly women held out from moving out. Why? Because she knew the injustice of it all. The land that once was used to give poor people the basic human right of housing, would be used for private profit. Many of the Victoria courts residents had to move to the fringes the city or forced to live in areas with high crime rate or worse fell the cracks and became homeless and a one lady I knew personally, grew despondent and committed suicide with the state collecting her children- atleast they would have a home. The neighborhood association/home owners association in this area were pushing for the demolition because they wanted to gentrify this area. And the city wanted to get rid of the eyesore close to downtown that made the tourists feel unsafe when visiting the institute of texasn cultures or the hemisfair park. The Refugio Place apartments that replaced the courts had to participate for a length of time in allowing 20% percent of it's unit to be affordable through section 8 vouchers or tax credit rent rates. From what I know, being a resident here- there is blatant descrimination towards the low income residents by the more affluent and all kinds of rules are passed to keep the market rate residents happy. For instance, children are not allowed to run and play in the courtyard and only the market rate residents are allowed access to the gate codes while the section 8 people must rely on the one key they are issued for a family of up to five to open gates. Also, the maintainence people take weeks to repair things for the secton 8 families. In short- the Victoria courts residents were just put out of sight and out of mind so the the housing authority and contracting corporations could profit at the expense of the most vulnerable people in society.

[skeet09]

Residents have been scattered about in various SAHA owned or SAHA affiliated apartment complexes throughout San Antonio, including tax credit properties.

[dvlpr]

Originally Posted by debiSA

sad that nis o one cares or kIt nows the answer to your question. I lived there until I was 13- about three years before the demolition. It was on the news that an elderly women held out from moving out. Why? Because she knew the injustice of it all. The land that once was used to give poor people the basic human right of housing, would be used for private profit. Many of the Victoria courts residents had to move to the fringes the city or forced to live in areas with high crime rate or worse fell the cracks and became homeless and a one lady I knew personally, grew despondent and committed suicide with the state collecting her children- atleast they would have a home. The neighborhood association/home owners association in this area were pushing for the demolition because they wanted to gentrify this area. And the city wanted to get rid of the eyesore close to downtown that made the tourists feel unsafe when visiting the institute of texasn cultures or the hemisfair park. The Refugio Place apartments that replaced the courts had to participate for a length of time in allowing 20% percent of it's unit to be affordable through section 8 vouchers or tax credit rent rates. From what I know, being a resident here- there is blatant descrimination towards the low income residents by the more affluent and all kinds of rules are passed to keep the market rate residents happy. For instance, children are not allowed to run and play in the courtyard and only the market rate residents are allowed access to the gate codes while the section 8 people must rely on the one key they are issued for a family of up to five to open gates. Also, the maintainence people take weeks to repair things for the secton 8 families. In short- the Victoria courts residents were just put out of sight and out of mind so the the housing authority and contracting corporations could profit at the expense of the most vulnerable people in society.

1. There is no "private profit". SAHA owned the property before, and they own it now. What they did do was take one of the most notorious projects in SA and get rid of it (including, of course, some of the criminals who resided there).

2. There is no "injustice". Victoria Courts was one of the most horrific housing projects anywhere in the city, and the people who lived there had a horrific negative impact on the surrounding neighborhood. Most of the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, by the way, are working-class people who manage to pay their own rent.

3. Mixed-income projects like Refugio Place have been demonstrated to be successful in changing the behavior of public housing residents, creating more sustainable affordable-housing projects that are compatible with neighborhoods.

4. You're right that the city wanted to make sure tourists (and residents) who were down there felt safe. That's what the city is SUPPOSED to do. And now that VC is gone, the area is much safer.

5. Are you seriously complaining the residents who pay market-rate rent receive privileges not extended to recipients of public housing? Guess what? They deserve more privileges and amenities, because they pay more. Here's another fact you may find "unjust": people who buy more expensive houses live in nicer homes. What a travesty.

6. These people were not put "out of sight and out of mind". Most are still in public housing, and many were actually given the opportunity to live in the new Refugio Place apartments. I am a supporter of SAHA and public housing agencies, and the mission of affordable housing. But the ignorance, ingratitude, and entitlement of people like you sometimes makes me think twice...

[perticusrex]

VC residents weren't displaced. They were given the opportunity to be relocated to other properties - its just there was some auditing and re-examining of people's actual qualifications that left some having to find housing on their own since they no longer qualified for assistance and then there were some who had such a loyalty to the courts that they were pissed off when it closed, primarily because many of them were running dope. Those courts were a plague. To say otherwise is to be in complete denial.

[Paka]

I work with a guy my age that grew up in the courts...he said he feels fortunate to have made it out of there. According to him, everyone was looking/hoping for a way out of there back in the day...lots of folks felt stuck there...he does not have the same warm, glowing memories of being allowed to live there that you seem to have.

I grew up in San Antonio and I can tell you that even a kid from the Kelly AFB area knew you steered clear of there...lots of lead stories on the local news.

[jbc1995fb]

I hate to say this but I'm glad they were torn down. When I was 16 a friend and I went to a Scorpions concert at the old hemisphere arena. We were from Poteet & naive at the time and didn't know the VC were there so we were waiting for our ride by the federal building. Some other teenagers mugged us and ran into the courts. I'm sure there were a lot of good people living there but there were also thugs and of course they are going to give the place a bad name.

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by Paka

I work with a guy my age that grew up in the courts...he said he feels fortunate to have made it out of there. According to him, everyone was looking/hoping for a way out of there back in the day...lots of folks felt stuck there...he does not have the same warm, glowing memories of being allowed to live there that you seem to have.

I grew up in San Antonio and I can tell you that even a kid from the Kelly AFB area knew you steered clear of there...lots of lead stories on the local news.

Same is true of Alazan - Apache and others!! I just wish they had shut down Victoria Courts before blowing all the funds remodeling it!! Hi Paka!

[Paka]

Originally Posted by satx56

Same is true of Alazan - Apache and others!! I just wish they had shut down Victoria Courts before blowing all the funds remodeling it!! Hi Paka!

Ohhh...you are soooo right! Those names are "blasts from the past" for sure. San Antonio was such a great place to grow up, we got to take the bus all over town and enjoy so much back in the day. We all had our "don't even get off the bus on this side of the street" areas down, and our friends from those areas knew where we could all meet up to start out adventures. Those WERE the days...

[rd2007]

sounds like a lovely place. good thing it's gone