When I moved out of Seattle proper (2003), the city had just finished tearing down all the large tracts of “Project Housing”. After less than 30 years the city had determined that these taxpayer funded houses were in such bad shape that they were unlivable. These neighborhoods were also rampant with crime and decorated with abandoned vehicles on the curbs and in the yards. And after tearing them down, what did the city do?
Built 1390 new ones!
It is called the New Holly Project Housing Development and it isn’t your typical public housing.
You see, the city decided that not only was there a need for “free and low-income rentals”, they also finally figured out that new houses inside the city were selling for exaorbidant prices.
So they created “mixed-residency housing”.
Pick any street in New Holly and you will find people who live there for free, people whose rents to the city are subsidized by the city, and, wait for this…..
People who paid for the priviledge of living in what is already becoming a run down neighborhood.
Their homes look just like everyone else’s home. The floorplans and options are the same. The only differences are the furniture and the stuff on the walls.
Even before 2003, I could drive through the earliest completed section of the housing project and could tell who owned and who was “renting for free”. The uncut grass and untrimmed shrubberies were dead give-a-ways. This was later taken care of when they city said they’d just come in and cut it for everyone.
Maybe the next time I head up that way I’ll stroll through and take some pictures. Maybe I’ll also hold a contest to see if you all can spot who got stuck buying a house in Da Hood.