Housing Authority purchase 4 SE apartment complexes (Huntsville, Valley: foreclosures, city hall, condo)

[amsa526]

I agree with this.
Getting these people out of these housing projects - getting them integrated in the general population helps break the cycle of generational poverty. Yes - this is some sort of way of 'dragging' them up ...
Housing projects did not work in the 60s --- and hasn't worked now either.
Even left coast San Francisco is abandoning the concept of housing projects ---- it breeds more hopelessness, despair and crime.

Unfortunately - the concept of Section 8 is also broken. It needs to be mandated for complexes > N # of units ... up to a certain ratio of total units. But all in all, each state should be in control on the specifics ... not some federal bureaucrat who is far removed from local concerns.

I see Mayor Battle is looking quite politically vulnerable...

[macwell]

fyi...

Housing Authority looks at meeting for Weatherly
Posted by Staff reports April 08, 2009 5:00 AM
Housing Authority looks at meeting for Weatherly - Ask Us - al.com

Housing Authority looks at meeting for Weatherly
Posted by Staff reports April 08, 2009 5:00 AM

Q. There was a public hearing Monday concerning the new public housing at
Stone Manor Apartments at Chaffee Elementary School. I live near Weatherly
Elementary School, and our entire neighborhood is concerned about the proposed
public housing near our school at Mahogany Row. Is there going to be a similar
public hearing for our neighborhood? If so, when and where will this hearing take place?

A. Paige Rucker, spokeswoman for the Huntsville Housing Authority, said the
agency is exploring a "leadership to leadership" meeting with representatives
of the Weatherly-area neighborhood. She said the town meeting at Chaffee proved
too volatile to accomplish a meaningful exchange of information.

[macwell]

fyi....Crime at the SE Timber Ridge Apartments...off to a good start...

Huntsville police blotter: Avon calls, thief answers
Posted by Staff reports April 08, 2009 5:00 AM
South precinct
Huntsville police blotter: Avon calls, thief answers - Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com


Mohogany Row: A 17-year-old female reported that someone broke into her
residence between 7:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Monday and stole a 62-inch Mitsubishi flat-screen television.


Mahogany Row: A person broke into a home between 2:08 p.m. March 30
and 1:57 p.m. Monday. The thief stole a quantity of Avon products.

[tammie2]

NIMBY and Public Housing Expansion in Huntsville | flashpoint (http://www.flashpointblog.com/2009/04/02/nimby-and-public-housing-expansion-in-huntsville/ - broken link)

[friday13]

Huntsville public housing purchases draws attention of state lawmakers - Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com

[Reactionary]

State Representative Mike Ball (R), who represents the Chaffee area, wrote "First an Idea, Then a Bill" (http://www.flashpointblog.com/2009/04/09/first-an-idea-then-a-bill/ - broken link):

Last Monday night, I attended the public meeting at Chaffee Elementary concerning the acquisition of property by the Huntsville Housing Authority...

...Mayor Battle read from an excerpt from the State Code of Alabama governing housing authorities. I then realized there was a state issue that needed to be addressed.

The enabling state legislation gives the housing authority more power than is necessary or required by the federal law. There are no notification requirements and no oversight by anyone elected by the people. Much of the anger (not to be confused with hatred) focused on the perception that the Housing Authority had arrogantly operated in secrecy and without proper oversight.

Flashpoint has much more on the HHA, including details of the Chaffee Public Hearing. Thanks for the link tammie2.

Disclosure - I write at Flashpoint.

[macwell]

fyi....more to come for SE area

Huntsville Housing Authority outlines 5 year plan
WAFF.com: North Alabama News, Radar, Weather, Sports and Jobs-Huntsville Housing Authority outlines 5 year plan

[Reactionary]

The HHA Annual Plan (5 Year Plan) is available at their website (zipped pdfs and spreadsheets):

Huntsville Housing

Much of it is federal form, and it is not detailed enough to provide specific notification for neighborhoods, but here is the interesting part:

(e) HHA may wish to use the project-based voucher program for approximately 150 units. HHA is working to de-concentrate poverty in the city of Huntsville and there are a limited number of landlords willing to accept vouchers in the higher income communities. HHA intends to use the voucher program to guarantee affordability in Southeast Huntsville, specifically in the downtown Medical District. Additionally, HHA would like to guarantee affordability of housing in other areas of Southeast Huntsville so that residents may benefit from high-performing schools and other quality of life factors.
(f) Other. HHA is in the process of acquiring multi-family units throughout the city of Huntsville. HHA may request that these units be ACC units or HCV units.

One problem is that the "high-performing schools" are already overcrowded (for example, Grissom is at ~140% capacity). One reason why GHS and HHS are overcrowded is that they are the only "high-performing" High Schools in Huntsville. As far as I can tell, the HHA and HSV Schools do not have a plan to assimilate the public housing children into the SE schools, nor do they plan to hire additional teachers.

IMO the HHA plan will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

[macwell]

I have been reading the various articles and comments in the Huntsville Times and posted on other blogs/forums concerning the on going SE HHA situation. (See links below) .

ok, my 2 cents of thought from reading all this, it sure looks like the SE areas (Grissom, Hampton Cove, Jones Valley) have become a target with particular HSV city members and other related organizations. It looks like they plan to move the majority of the HHA to specific school districts, which shouts out the Southeast areas. I do not see this working in Hsv. As a few have mentioned, this did not work in the past. There will be major flight to leave the city of Hsv and out Madison County. The SE areas will no longer be the schools or areas they are today.

Also, I noticed there are comments from some who say this works and it’s ok to mix low income down to SE, so my question back to those...why you are not moving to the northwest (or low income areas) to build or renovate the homes and send your kids to Johnson high school (or other low scoring schools). I don’t see anyone asking where the low income homes are so they can move into those communities and send their kids to Johnson high school so they can share their moral and ethic daily lives and work routine.

Let’s think about this, everyone on this forum and those who move to Hsv want to know where the best schools are so they can move to that area. No one is asking where the low income and low scoring areas are so they can go move there and mix their income to the those neighborhoods.

I give the SE area 3-5 years at best, it’s like someone else commented on another site, take a picture now and come back in 10 years and see how it looks. I would not want to risk purchasing a 300k-400k home in the south area (HC and Jones Valley included) for it to devalue over the next 5-10 years.

I hope people are not so naive to think this is not being done with an agenda. There will be no place in hsv that is not mixed with low income people for now on, there is no place in Madison County that will not have this type of agenda pushed into their communities. People need to wake up and read in-between the lines, this is the end to communities like Grissom, Hampton Cove, and Jones Valley.

BTW, let’s not forget the next sneak under radar event coming to the area. The federal prison halfway house location. Same thing, eveeryone will wake up one day to find it in your backyard, but will be another done deal. Who is to say this will not be located in SE or HC, don’t be so sure your community is safe from this one either.

thx
Flashpoint is a good site- someone else already posted with many
articles and comments....thx for posting this one.
flashpoint | Politics. Alabama Style.
Additional thoughts on “decentralizing poverty” in Huntsville

Halfway house put on 6-month hold
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 By JOHN PECK
Halfway house put on 6-month hold - al.com
The moratorium comes on the heels of an inquiry from a Florida-based company seeking city zoning information. Bannum Inc. of New Port Richey, Fla., is one of several possible bidders responding to a Federal Bureau of Prisons' bid solicitation for a 20-bed residential re-entry center in the Huntsville area that would reintegrate federal prisoners into society


What's right for public housing?
Sunday, April 12, 2009
What's right for public housing? - al.com

Anger and answers
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Huntsville Times
Anger and answers - al.com

[mm42]

I understand being concerned about the public housing being placed in SE Huntsville.

However, lumping Hampton Cove in with SE Huntsville in the discussion is idiotic. Hampton Cove is separated from the apartments in question by a freaking mountain and is in completely different school districts.