Tag: Foote Homes

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom

CREDIT: Jean-Luc Ourlin

For 20 years, I drove from Midtown to Downtown, five days a week, on Vance Avenue. The Flyer‘s offices were on the bluff near the Tennessee Brewery, and Vance was the most direct route from my house. It was a thoroughfare that had seen better days. There were still remnants of those days — a couple of big Victorian mansions, a once-posh-looking apartment building — but the street was scruffy, worn out. The only businesses were a small market plastered with “We Take EBT” signs and a couple of faded funeral homes.

As you neared Downtown, you passed Foote Homes, the city’s last public housing project. It always seemed to be the one place full of life on Vance, the yards and front stoops filled with people and activity. It had been rehabbed in recent years and seemed like a stable, family-friendly place.

When the Flyer moved its offices to Union and Front more than a year ago, I stopped driving down Vance and hadn’t seen it in months — until last Friday night, when we were headed to a friend’s house in South Bluffs.

What a change. Foote Homes is gone; a large, grassy vacant space is all that remains. Nearby, new apartments have sprung up on Vance, and new houses are being built just to the south. These are basically instant neighborhoods, homes created to house people of “mixed incomes,” we’re told. They look nice.

So where did the Foote Homes residents go? Scattered over the city, I suspect. The operative urban renewal theory being to break up “pockets of poverty.” So, eh, too bad if you live in one of the pockets. You gotta move.

The building boom is everywhere, especially in downtown and the center city. Near my house, a giant sign reading “The Citizen” now illuminates the night sky, proclaiming the presence of a new apartment complex at McLean and Union — with more apartment buildings to come in nearby blocks. A large, barn-like apartment building is provoking controversy and protest near Overton Square. “Tall skinny” houses are popping up like mushrooms in Cooper-Young, often to the dismay of neighboring home-owners. “Boom, boom, boom, boom,” as John Lee Hooker once sang.

Jean-Luc Ourlin

John Lee Hooker

So who’s moving in? And who’s being forced out by higher housing prices and disappearing single-family homes for rent? You can probably guess. It’s the age-old balancing act between encouraging investment and not displacing people from their homes — the gentrification dilemma. City leaders will increasingly have to deal with this problem as developers continue to jump into the now-hot Memphis market.

We have only to look 180 miles east to Nashville for a perfect case study. According to a recent affordability study by Numbeo.com, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in center city Nashville is now $1,529 a month. In Memphis, it’s currently $901. (That’s right.) That latter number will no doubt change as gentrification spreads, forcing lower-income folks to the margins — unless we do something about it. I suspect this issue will become a significant one in the 2019 mayoral contest.

The current administration’s Memphis 3.0 mantra is “Build Up, Not Out.” I get what they mean. The city has been hurt badly by urban sprawl. It’s geographically too large for its population. But Memphis leaders, now and whoever they may be in the future, will need to continue to pay close attention to make sure the gold-rush to redevelop the city’s core doesn’t come at the cost of forcing long-time residents out, and infesting established neighborhoods with make-a-quick-buck, poorly designed housing.

We should encourage and welcome the developers and investors who are putting their money into Memphis. Fresh financial resources are an important part of making a city vibrant. But the investors’ influence should align with the needs and wishes of the city’s residents. Their developments should respect the architectural integrity of our neighborhoods. And care must be taken to avoid chasing away long-time residents who have “paid their dues,” so to speak, by anchoring those neighborhoods before they became “investments.”

Unfortunately, too often those with the big bucks are the ones directing our cities’ urban revivals. We need to look to other “it” cities like Nashville and learn from their successes — and their mistakes.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Tim Sampson’s column, “Thanks, Mayor Wharton” …

As a loyal supporter of Mayor A C Wharton, I concur with Tim Sampson’s thoughts. Opponents blamed the Inquisition on him, the race riots in Watts, the overthrow of the Roman Empire, you name it, but not one time did you hear the man complain.

Time and history will record his name, not only as a footnote as mayor, but as a kind-hearted man who loved his adopted city more than some of us who were born at John Gaston Hospital. Take your rest, Mr. Mayor. You are mighty deserving.

DeeCee

About Toby Sells’ story, “Memphis Wins $30M for Foote Homes” …

Glossing over what is ostensibly the end of traditional public housing in Memphis with an article that trumpets it as a victory over blight renders a historically significant moment in providing affordable housing as merely an afterthought in our march toward “progress.” 

The slow and inexorable movement away from affordable housing provided by public entities in favor of a model that puts it primarily in the hands of the private market is a decades-long shift in public policy that has much to do with the burdensome cost of maintaining such facilities as federal support has declined. However, it is also an ideological choice to “de-concentrate” poverty through a mixed-income approach to developing communities that has very uncertain outcomes for the residents who are displaced by this process. 

Past resident opposition to demolition efforts at Foote and Cleaborne homes goes unmentioned in the article, reinforcing the notion that this solution was the only viable alternative for the neighborhood. Until we fix the systemic issues that cause the benefits of society to be distributed unequally among our community, affordable housing will continue to be a pressing need.

The fact that the removal of public housing complexes has opened up valuable downtown real estate to more speculative uses should not go unnoticed. The impending demolition of Foote Homes is a much more complex issue than simply a straightforward decision to combat blight.

Travis Allen

Some say there’s no difference between Democrats and Republicans. That may have been true at one time, but not today. The recent debates make it clear that the two major parties occupy different planets.

Republicans are locked into guns, anti-government and anti-abortion rhetoric, rehashing Benghazi, and trashing the president and Hillary Clinton. They show no respect for each other.

The Democratic debate, on the other hand, offered a civilized discussion of real issues. It was very clear which party appeals to grown-ups.

Lou Ronson

About Jackson Baker’s story, “What Strickland Will Do” …

When it came down to it, white folks voted for the white candidate. I absolutely deplore this idea of trying to make this a “colorless” election when white folks win. White folks vote based on color, more than not, just like black folks. Heck, the Republicans “recommended” Strickland, a supposed Democrat in the election. How many times have they recommended an African-American Democrat that was running for mayor, or any position for that matter? We don’t have media outlets that make that clear because the major ones are run by white folks.

Sure, I can handle the truth if 20 percent of African Americans crossed over to the white candidate. I have voted for white candidates, even white Republicans. I wouldn’t agree with their reasoning in this case, but I sure could respect it. I just can’t trust the truth from the bumbling idiots at the Shelby County Election Commission.

That being said, I didn’t think when African Americans voted overwhelmingly for Herenton in 1991 that the city was going to fall off into the Mississippi, and I don’t think it will in this case, either.

1Memphomaniac

Mempho, it is very likely many of the votes cast by “white folks” were based on the issues, including the pension issue, the MPD, Save the Coliseum, Memphis Animal Services, and those advocating for a comprehensive plan and for economic development reform, etc.

Time to take the “everybody-is-racist-but-me” glasses off.

Barf

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “CBHS Sends Student Home After He Spoke Out Against Anti-gay Policy” …

He was suspended for making them look bad.

Jeff

Pro tip: If you don’t want your school to get bad press, then just rectify the situation and treat your student fairly. Sending him home for a week as an ad hoc suspension isn’t exactly going to minimize that bad press.

Otterdaemmerung

Don’t be so quick to judge. We only know part of the story, the part the media want us to know. Get all the facts first. If the whole story were known, it might not be so press-worthy. I don’t trust the media anymore. It’s their agenda that gets out, not the whole story.

Bobi

CBHS defenders are correct; it is a private school in a larger community. A community is also within its rights to ridicule that school for their petty actions.

datGuy

Congratulations to the administrators of CBHS for escalating the situation. After reciting to this young man worn-out lies about gay people, they decided to be petty because he contacted the press. Sounds as if some professionalism is badly needed. I would like to caution this student, however, that it’s more important that he finish the school year than seek change at CBHS.

Brunetto Latini

About Toby Sells’ post, “Memphis Wins $30M for Foote Homes” …

I hope they can remain in Foote Homes and not be dispersed throughout the city. I’m tired of government-sanctioned, city-sponsored blight from people who have no idea how to take care of a community and won’t try to grab a clue.

Mnyama

Another fenced-in public housing project that was originally built to prevent people from assimilating being torn down? If so, good. A step forward.

ChrisR

About Lesley Young’s travel story on New Orleans, “Wandering” …

Dang, can I go with you the next time you visit New Orleans? I would love to follow you around to some of these off-the-beaten path spots in my favorite city for a quick getaway. No place else is remotely close.

Strait Shooter

About Toby Sells post, “Pinch Plan Moves Forward” …

It’s a blank slate only because the city and developers tore down most everything historic that could have been restored, renovated, and repurposed. It’s a tragedy. That area is where Memphis was birthed. All Memphians are stakeholders in this critical area.

I hope the meetings will be well-publicized, more than a week in advance.

And the full plan that has been “dusted off” should be released to the public and the media at least two weeks in advance of meetings, so the participants will be informed as to what Jack Sammons and company have planned for us. Not everyone is included in the planning process yet. I hope the preservation groups, urban planners, and Downtown Neighborhood Association will be fully included. The Pinch almost lost its historic register listing recently and has been languishing for years. It’s funny how, all of a sudden, there is this city and developer interest in this land.

MemphisTigers

About Obama and ISIS …

Jeb Bush and other Republicans should not be allowed to get away with claiming the Obama administration is responsible for ISIS.

With the country united behind him — and most of the world — George W. Bush should have concentrated solely on destroying Al Qaeda completely after 9/11. Instead, Bush got us into an unnecessary war in Iraq that wasted the lives of 4,491 U. S. service members and allowed Al Qaeda to become a force there, from which ISIS became an offshoot. If Bush had not gotten us into Iraq and had focused on destroying Al Qaeda as he should have, we never would have heard of ISIS. The Bush administration, along with all of its other failures, is also responsible for ISIS’ existence.

Philip Williams

Categories
News News Blog

HUD Announces Job Program For Foote Homes Residents

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Residents of Foote Homes, the city’s last remaining public housing project, were chosen for a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pilot program aimed at helping them find and train for jobs.

The Jobs Plus pilot program was announced at a press conference at Foote Homes on Thursday afternoon. HUD’s General Deputy Assistant Secretary of Public Housing Jemine Bryon said HUD will give the Memphis Housing Authority $3 million to implement the program

Memphis is one of nine U.S. cities chosen to receive the funding for its public housing residents. Bryon said 57 cities applied. The funds will be invested into opportunities for public housing residents to increase their income through employment-related services, financial incentives, and community support for work.

There are more than 1,000 people living in 414 households at Foote Homes. Bryon said the program has a goal of enrolling 291 of those residents into the Jobs Plus program and placing 60 of them into jobs.

“Just because public housing residents are of modest means doesn’t mean they have modest dreams,” Bryon told those gathered at the conference, many of whom were residents of Foote Homes.

City officials plan to submit an application in September to HUD to raze Foote Homes’ 57 buildings. HUD denied the city the $30 million grant for the project last year. But city Director of Housing and Community Development Robert Lipscomb will try again this year. Lipscomb is overseeing a plan to tear down the aging complex and replace it with a mixed-income housing development like Legends Park, Cleaborne Pointe, University Place, and others.

Residents of Foote Homes, backed by the Vance Avenue Collaborative, have been fighting the city’s plan to tear down their apartment complex for years. They’ve released alternative plans, calling on the city to spruce up the complex with bigger porches, rain gardens, better lighting, walkways, and more trees.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Group Devises Plan to Save Foote Homes from Destruction

CREDIT: Bianca Phillips

Foote Homes doesn’t need to be torn down. It needs rain gardens, trees, individual porches, a new drainage system, updated lighting, and walkways. That’s according to the Vance Avenue Collaborative, a community group trying to save the public housing complex from demolition. 

The group held a meeting last week to discuss how Foote Homes can be saved.

City officials will submit an application in September to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to raze Foote Homes’ 57 buildings. HUD denied the city the $30 million grant for the project last year. But that did not deter Robert Lipscomb, the city’s director of Housing and Community Development, who said the process is competitive and that the city would simply try again in 2015. 

Bianca Phillips

Foote Homes

Should the city be selected for the $30 million Hope VI grant this year, the project would require $12.7 million from city taxpayers and $60 million from a private developer. In all, the project would cost $102.7 million, according to a Memphis Housing Authority document.

The city’s plan calls for replacing the aging project with a mixed-income housing development like Legends Park, Cleaborne Pointe, University Place, and others. 

The Vance Avenue Collaborative unveiled their alternative plan (called the Vance Avenue Community Transformation Plan) to renovate the Foote Homes complex during a meeting last week at the St. Patrick Center. They believe their plan to save the complex will cost less than the city’s estimates for demolition and building new homes. 

The plan would remove the large fence surrounding Foote Homes to increase pedestrian access to the site and diminish its reputation as a “ghetto,” collaborative members said. New sidewalks would be installed around the campus, which would be rich with new green spaces, according to the plan. 

Rain gardens would catch storm water and hold it to feed community gardens. Residents could eat or sell the produce grown in the gardens, the plan said. More trees would improve the “micro-climate” at Foote Homes. All of this would reduce litter because “the more beautiful the place is, the more we’ll take care of it,” said a voiceover in a 15-minute video describing the plan last week.

Backyards would be made semi-private. Each residential unit would get its own front porch, and they would be made larger than the existing shared porches. Walls would be painted. Mold would be scraped. Windows and screens and doors would be replaced. And it all comes with a price tag of $63 million. 

“Our plan starts with the assumption that Foote Homes is not a problem to be eliminated but an incredible asset that could be even more positive and more uplifting with a little bit of work,” said Kenneth Reardon, a collaborative member and University of Memphis planning professor who has been working on the alternative project for years.

Should the city’s plan move forward, current Foote Homes residents would be forced to move before demolition begins. And they won’t be invited back to the development once it reopens. Instead, current residents will be given a Housing Choice Voucher (formerly known as a Section 8 voucher) for housing assistance, which will allow them to move into mixed-income or private housing located all over the city. 

“If [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.] were alive today, with all the displacement we’re seeing from the other housing projects, especially given that he was assassinated in Memphis, how would he feel about that?” asked collaborative member Gil Carter III.