Friday, September 11, 2009

Decatur replacing old public housing; most tenants staying put


Allen Wilson Terrace, named for a minister, houses 200 families. When it is rebuilt, there will be public housing for 190.
ajc photo
by Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Decatur, GA
The heavy equipment parked along one of Decatur’s main streets will soon tear into the city’s biggest public housing project.
Allen Wilson Terrace along Commerce Drive has sheltered some of Decatur’s poorest residents since 1941. City housing officials say they’ve done their best to maintain the buildings but that now must be replaced.

The destruction of old public housing is nothing new. For years, the Atlanta Housing Authority has garnered national attention for its policy of razing old projects and replacing them with higher-end private condos. Many of the old tenants were dispersed into neighborhoods across metro Atlanta using Section 8 vouchers, in an effort to eliminate concentrations of poverty.

But Decatur is bucking that trend. The little city — it’s only four square miles — has promised a home in the rebuilt project for every tenant.

ajc story

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