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House breathes new life into HOPE VI program
Source: Nashville City Paper
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“We had been worried that the program was going to die,” said Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville. “The Bush administration hadn’t really favored it and it hadn’t been reauthorized in awhile [but] Congress passed, by a two-to-one, largely bipartisan vote, a reauthorization of this measure for about eight years.”
Instead the House last week voted to reauthorize a public housing program that has changed Nashville’s cityscape.
Four of Nashville’s rectangular, brick projects have blossomed into colorful, duplex neighborhoods since the program was implemented in 1992. The Vine Hill, Historic Preston Taylor and Sam Levy neighborhoods have undergone the makeover and the John Henry Hale homes off Charlotte and Interstate 40 are under construction.
The House bill authorizes up to $800 million dollars per year to be spent on HOPE VI projects around the country.
Also included in the legislation are requirements that the new developments be built to green standards, as well as a mandate that units be replaced on a one-to-one ratio. The Sam Levy homes, when they reopened in 2006, had about half of the previous units.
However, Phil Ryan, executive director of the Metropolitan Housing and Development Agency, said MDHA offered vouchers for residents to find housing in the private market to minimize the net loss of affordable units. He said the program has been very successful in Nashville but he is concerned about elements of the House bill including the one-to-one rebuild ratio.
“Part of the problem with public housing in the U.S. is overly dense housing that’s unappealing and unattractive,” Ryan explained. “The extreme density has created a bad environment for people.”
The mixed-income component of HOPE VI allows some homes to be purchased in those neighborhoods, thereby reducing the concentration of people living in poverty, he said.
“We think a beautiful mixed-income neighborhood is a net gain for low-income people versus an overly dense, traditional 60-year-old housing development,” Ryan said, adding that MDHA would like to do more HOPE VI projects. “I think it’s been a very successful program in Nashville.”
According to MDHA, about 10 to 30 percent of the residents apply to return to the HOPE VI developments. They are required to have a job or be enrolled in job training, and consideration is given to criminal backgrounds. Families or individuals with a “history of serious criminal activity may be declared ineligible,” but the program seeks to take changed circumstances into account.
Other cities like the program as well.
“This is very competitive,” Cooper said. “Only 120 cities in America have gotten any money from this program and Nashville’s already had four projects.”
He said former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was instrumental acquiring HOPE VI grants for the state.
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