Closing the Chapter on ‘The Projects’

By Renee Lewis Glover

Atlanta has risen from its own ashes many times – most spectacularly after the Civil War. But there have been other occasions where the will of the people to do the right thing has fostered civic rebirth. While many Southern cities were mired in racial unrest and race riots, for example, Atlanta said, “We can do better,” and we did.

Another example: During the Great Depression, one third of the nation was ill-housed. In Atlanta, the tenements were atrocious and the shortage of housing was critical. When the federal government authorized public housing construction during the mid-1930s, Atlanta’s spirit of resurgence led the way. We built the first major public housing project on 60 acres of blighted land near Georgia Tech that eventually became Techwood/Clark Howell Homes. Over time, Atlanta had more public housing units per capita than any other American city, and for many years these projects were transitional housing for the working poor, who were striving to achieve self-sufficiency and the American dream.

But by the 1970s, as a result of a series of less than thoughtful policy changes that forced out the working poor, public housing had dramatically changed. The “projects” had become islands of poverty and despair, where Atlantans were trapped in poverty, joblessness and poor education options and structurally locked out of mainstream America.

As Atlanta was preparing to host the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, AHA was ranked as one of the worst large public housing authorities in the entire country. Nearly all the schools serving students living in AHA properties were ranked among the worst in the entire state.

Just 12 years later, those dismal statistics have dramatically improved. AHA is now the national model for creating healthy mixed-use, mixed-income communities. More importantly, recipients are entering and succeeding in the work force and are on their way to achieving their version of the American Dream.

Last week, we began closing the final chapter on public housing “projects.” The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the demolition of Bowen Homes. HUD agreed with our assessment that the 650 units were irrevocably deteriorated and obsolete. Moreover, the families who were living in that environment, which had become the poster child for concentrated poverty, may now through a choice driven and supportive process using a housing choice voucher, find housing that will meet the needs of their families.

We anticipate quick approval for demolition of the remaining major projects: Bankhead Courts, Thomasville Heights, Hollywood Courts, Herndon Apartments, Palmer and Roosevelt. Those projects, together with Bowen, house about 2,400 households – families that can now look to bright futures in good neighborhoods.

When the last of those buildings comes down, we will have made history just as we did when we built the first public housing. We will have become first major American city to eliminate its large family housing “projects.” This is an event that has ramifications for all Atlantans. People are returning to the city, which in recent years is showing significant population growth for the first time in a generation. That resurgence would not have occurred if blighted housing projects continued to dominate Atlanta’s landscape.

Roughly 80 percent of the tenants are women and their children. What about them?

The answer needs to be stressed, underscored and emphasized: Every – EVERY – resident of Bowen Homes will move to a new home of the family’s choice. The only exceptions are those who engage in criminal behavior, refuse to work or violate the terms of their leases. They would be ineligible to remain AHA tenants in any case. And via housing subsidy vouchers the amount they pay for rent and utilities will remain the same – approximately 30 percent of their income.

The residents choose where they live, and we know from recent surveys that more than 98 percent of the residents want to move and support our policies. AHA provides each family at least 27 months of coaching and counseling to manage the transition into mainstream America.

It’s important to note that as the projects have come down, AHA’s commitment to Atlanta’s poorer residents has increased. Today, AHA serves 6,000 more residents than in 1995 and in substantially healthier environments.

Since 1995, more than 10,000 households have successfully relocated from the housing projects. Approximately 80 percent of the families chose to stay in the city of Atlanta while the balance decided to use their housing assistance in other metropolitan-Atlanta areas.

Georgia Tech economist and professor, Dr. Thomas D. Boston has measured the impact of what we’ve done at Techwood/Clark Howell Homes. Before redevelopment, those neighborhoods were 35 times more violent than the city. After redevelopment, crime in the neighborhood dropped 91 percent.

Even more important than crime is what redevelopment has meant to children. Boston found that in 1995 just 10 percent of the students at the neighborhood elementary school passed a basic writing skills test. By 2002, a new neighborhood school had been constructed, new leadership appointed, and a new curriculum adopted. Sixty-two percent of the neighborhood children passed basic writing skills test – a level that was about 50 percent higher than all elementary schools in the Atlanta system.

That is resurgence is enough to make every Atlantan proud.

Renee Lewis Glover is president and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority.