There'rHUD Housing projects in 'much worse' condition" than those in Ohio!

[papau]

There'rHUD Housing projects in 'much worse' condition" than those in Ohio!


A positive Bush message on Housing for the poor - there are projects in 'much worse' condition" than those in Ohio!

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/07/23/loc_english...
Friday, July 23, 2004
HUD secretary encouraging on English Woods

By Kevin Aldridge
Enquirer staff writer

ENGLISH WOODS - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said Thursday that he's seen housing projects in "much worse" condition than English Woods and that no public housing development could be sold or closed without his permission.

Jackson, who came to Cincinnati to visit with tenants and tour English Woods, called the World War II-era apartment complex "scenic," "beautiful" and "structurally sound." Those words have seldom been used by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority - which owns English Woods - to describe or market the 948-unit development in recent years.

"I just wanted to come and see for myself," Jackson said. "I come with no preconceived notions as to what should occur."

Jackson's visit comes at a time when public attitudes toward low-income housing in Cincinnati are changing. In recent years, public housing developments such as Huntington Meadows, Lincoln Court and Laurel Homes have been bulldozed in favor of newer market-rate housing and condominiums.

The housing authority wanted to raze English Woods and build single-family homes atop the prime western Cincinnati land as it had done in the West End with Laurel Homes and Lincoln Court.

But Cincinnati City Council, state lawmakers and neighborhood activists opposed the demolition. In October, HUD rejected the demolition plan. <snip>