apologies for long post... There is apparently a lot of confusion surrounding Hollman and Heritage Park. First the Hollman lawsuit was originally about Locational Choice. If you were poor and needed public housing there was basically one place you could live -- the projects in Near North. This was direct result of decisions made by the Minneapolis City Council in the 1950's, decisions made against the recommendations of the Mayor, the City's HRA Director, and against the wishes of housing advocates. The point of the lawsuit was to begin to right that wrong and a key component of the lawsuit was to scatter public housing choices to all areas of the region, including the fast growing suburbs and their large job base. The Hollman Consent Decree basically states that all 770 housing units demolished in poor areas will be replaced. The settlement stated that 480 of the units would go into the suburbs, 200 would go back to the Near Northside at the new redevelopment area now known as Heritage Park and approximately 90 or so be scattered throughout Minneapolis in non-concentrated areas. That plan is being implemented and will be finished by October 04.
Mr. Reitman may be right that it would be easier to site public housing in 3rd tier suburbs than in East Harriet but I should point out that of the 88 scattered sites acquired under Hollman, 40 percent were located in SW or Calhoun-Isles, including the neighborhoods of Kingfield, Bryn Mawr, Tangletown, Lynnhurst, Linden Hills, and Fulton. (alas no East Harriet). Another 15 percent were in Northeast. Suburban units are also being located in such "third tier" cities as Edina, Golden Valley, Columbia Heights, Richfield, Roseville, and Bloomington. Suburban Hollman units can be found in 32 different cities in 6 counties (Dakota County refused to participate). Now that's locational choice!! Heritage Park is a work in progress but when it is completed will include 200 public housing units, 90 affordable rental units, 150 market rate rental units, 55 habitat for humanity homes, 55 affordable for sale homes, and 250 market rate homes. In addition, MPHA will build a 100 unit senior housing for low income seniors, including at least 40 assisted living units. When it is completed, 500 of the 900 (55 percent) new units will be for built for low income or moderate income people. All on the site of an acknowledged ghetto with buildings that were sinking into an ancient riverbed As I stated in my earlier post, 40 families have moved in with new leases signed every week. Yes there are still piles of dirt, but there are also families living there -- low income families, rich folk, blacks, whites, asian, somali, hispanic, sometimes all living in the same building or on the same block and many of whom who lived in those deteriorating buildings 3 short years ago. There may have only been 20 families in January, but at the end of February there are 40, by Easter, it could be up to 60, 80 or more -- that's the way it is with large-scale developments, it doesn't all happen at once. When completed, Heritage Park will be a mixed-use, mixed-income development located 1 short mile from downtown. It will be connected to the City via new roads, park amenities, and bike trails. People of all races, incomes, and backgrounds will be sharing the same space and it will probably be the most integrated neighborhood in all of the City. Critics like Ron Edwards will probably never accept it but I stand by my original post -- This is Good News!! Dean E. Carlson East Harriet, Ward 10 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Jessen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > I'm confused. My response is: is this really true? If 770 are to be > completed by October, with 330 of those in the suburbs, that means only 440 > of the 900 that are to be done at Heritage Park would be completed. But is > even this true? When I stopped by the project in January, there were only > 20 families, and I was told here would be few government subsidized families > (the original purpose of the project, which promised homes for 300 > public-housing residents and 100 for the elderly poor). I saw a few > buildings, most not completed, and acres and acres of dirt mounds. There > are several reports that also add to my confusion. ...snip Keith says; It is not just a little weird that the *M*PHA is messing around in the suburbs to solve Mpls. issues. Rapping off of what I learned at the Coalition of Impacted Neighborhoods meeting this evening, I bet it is easier for the MPHA to site high density subsidized housing for poor people in a third tier suburb then in Dean Carlson's East Harriet Neighborhood. No reflection, of course, on Dean Carlson, but I withhold my Huzzahs. Keith Reitman NearNorth TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
