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Greensboro is poised to launch a major real estate development project
exemplifying “smart growth” in an inner-city neighborhood that residents and
city leaders of all political persuasions agree desperately needs increased
investment.
The $76 million project, a public-private partnership
spearheaded by the Greensboro Housing Authority, will transform the obsolete
Morningside Homes public housing development and the surrounding Lincoln Grove
neighborhood east of downtown into a vibrant, mixed-income community.
Leveraging a $23 million grant from the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development under the HOPE VI Revitalization Program, $12.4
million from the City of Greensboro and $3.7 million from the Greensboro
Housing Authority, Greensboro’s plan will generate more than $36 million in
private investment and other resources to improve the community. The current monolithic 380-unit super block of public
housing units will be gone and, instead, 300 public housing units will be
scattered throughout the area, indistinguishable from other housing units. Privately owned housing will include
186 affordable apartments and 122 moderately priced single-family homes for
purchase mixed among existing housing in the Morningside/ Lincoln Grove
neighborhood. As part of the
project, another 70 new units of public housing and 80 new Section 8 vouchers
will be added in other sections of the city to offer low-income families other
housing choices. HOPE VI also
will upgrade neighborhood amenities and add commercial and retail space to
house small businesses. It will
provide business and economic opportunities for neighborhood residents and the
training and support services needed to take advantage of those opportunities.
Planned in neo-traditional style, the revitalized community
will include open space, recreational areas and community gathering places
within the 246-acre site. But
this new development will differ from most planned developments in two major
ways: HOPE VI will provide the city with
much needed additional affordable housing; and unlike most developments, this
project was planned not just by a developer but with the active support and
participation of the residents already living in the neighborhood.
Residents of the Morningside Homes/Lincoln Grove neighborhood
have long voiced the need for physical and economic investment in the area. This neighborhood has the lowest median income in the city,
the greatest percentage of households on public assistance, the highest
unemployment rate and a per capita violent crime rate that is nearly three
times the city average.
Built nearly 50 years ago, Morningside Homes is Greensboro’s
oldest public housing development.
Typical of 1950s public housing, its barracks-style design and dense layout
are obsolete by today’s standards.
In the surrounding neighborhood, a handful of well-maintained homes and
apartments are overwhelmed almost 3 to 1 with deteriorated and boarded-up
buildings.
Despite past investments in Morningside by GHA, the major
physical obsolescence and deterioration of the area have continued to cause
problems for both Morningside Homes and the surrounding neighborhood, whose
residents feel the stigma of living there.
Images of the 1979 Klan-Nazi shootings, which occurred near Morningside Homes,
and frequent reports of crime and drugs have formed the public’s negative view
of the area. One resident noted recently that her
child got off the school bus many blocks ahead of his actual bus stop and
walked the rest of the way home, so that his friends would not know that he
lived in the “The Grove.”
The Morningside Homes/Lincoln Grove area clearly is in need of
help. The stark reality is that, without a
major infusion of investment, the area will continue its downward spiral, and
Morningside Homes, the center point of this area, probably would not be viable
property within ten years.
The prospect of HOPE VI funding presented the opportunity the
neighborhood needed to try to turn itself around.
In spite of its problems, this neighborhood also has some
strong assets to build on, including active residents, a solid sense of
community history and ongoing revitalization efforts nearby (Eastside Park,
East Market Street), which can work with this redevelopment effort to bring
new economic vitality to the area.
The strong consensus at neighborhood meetings in 1996, ’97, and ’98, as well
as other public planning meetings, was that the GHA, the City of Greensboro
and the neighborhood should partner to apply for federal HOPE VI funding to
finance a major revitalization effort.
In 1997, weekly meetings were held in Morningside Homes to
brainstorm ideas for community improvement.
A team of Morningside Homes residents went door-to-door with a survey to
determine the community’s needs and to invite residents to participate in
planning. The ideas discussed ranged from
increasing the number of single-family homes to improving transportation
options and economic opportunities within the areas.
An internationally known town planning firm, Duany Plater
Zyberk, was brought in to work with the community to turn the residents’ ideas
into a concept plan and design.
Thoroughly reviewed during a four-day long public charette (design planning
session) held at the Morningside Homes Community Center, the final design was
strongly endorsed by the residents and representatives of community
organizations participating, and formed the basis of the HOPE VI
Revitalization Plan. The tireless efforts of all those
participating in this three-year planning process paid off when Greensboro’s
HOPE VI application won federal funding in 1998.
With funding in hand, Greensboro is now ready to make the HOPE
VI dream a reality. A steering committee to oversee the
project has been at work for several months.
Residents of Morningside homes and the surrounding neighborhood who
were major participants in the planning and design continue to remain active
as the real work begins. As the
principal stakeholders in the project, residents of Morningside Homes and the
surrounding neighborhood sit on the steering committee, along with
representatives of the GHA, the City of Greensboro and the developer chosen to
implement the project. This
committee is charged with assuring that this revitalization effort not only
meets the physical needs of the area but also provides the economic
opportunities that residents want.
Although several HOPE VI projects in other cities have led to
intentional or unintentional “gentrification” of neighborhoods where
affordable housing was replaced by new housing too costly for the original
residents to afford, Greensboro’s HOPE VI actually will increase the amount of
affordable housing in the city.
The project has been carefully planned to avoid pricing out community
residents; instead, it provides them with more housing options.
The overall goal of the project is to upgrade the neighborhood into a
community of choice, not a community of last resort.
In order to ensure that residents are able to take advantage of
the opportunities provided by the revitalization, all residents who must
relocate during the project will receive counseling and relocation assistance. No one will be left without a home. Every public housing resident will be
offered other existing public housing units as they become vacant or Section 8
rental assistance if available.
Contact will be maintained with all residents to keep them informed
about the employment, business and housing opportunities arising in the
redevelopment.
This huge construction project obviously will generate numerous
employment and business opportunities available to residents and local
businesses. Overall, of the $76 million HOPE VI
project, there will be approximately $55 million of construction work. Both the City of Greensboro and the
GHA are committed to ensuring that minority contractors have every opportunity
to bid and receive a portion of the work, which is slated to get underway next
year. The HOPE VI Steering
Committee is developing a proactive plan to ensure that goals for all
minority/women business enterprise as well as resident employment and
entrepreneurship are met or exceeded.
The plan includes information, training and outreach to minority-owned and
small businesses. In order to
make their participation more achievable, the project has been designed for
development in several phases and smaller contracts.
To ensure that residents are able to take advantage of the
opportunities available, a family self-sufficiency program is a major part of
the revitalization project. The self-sufficiency program offers
residents the opportunity to achieve economic independence and increase their
earning capacity through education, training and job placement according to
life plans they themselves make to meet their goals. All families who were living in
Morningside homes as of Jan.1, 1999, will be offered self-sufficiency services
so they can fully participate in the economic benefits of the project.
Greensboro has a legacy of renovation in housing and community
development. In a city that takes pride in its
quality of life, no child should have to be ashamed of where he or she lives. The long-term impact of Greensboro’s
unique HOPE VI revitalization plan will be the restoration of this
neighborhood to its former status as proud working-class community that can
provide families with a mix of housing options and a strong sense of community
and economic opportunity and advancement for all its residents.
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