Last of the ghettos
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008Atlanta Housing Authority Executive Director Renee Glover’s longtime wish is about to come true. It appears that four of the city’s last public housing projects — a total 1,200 affordable apartments — will soon come tumbling down.
This morning, the AJC published an op-ed by Glover in which she expressed confidence that Washington would grant permission to raze the few remaining public-housing projects in the city. According to a letter sent to the AHA today from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, permission for all but two of them has been granted. “I am pleased to approve your request to demolish,” the letter states.
In the op-ed, Glover wrote:
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. (more…)
