There are over 100-units already filled at the refurbished Sam Levy public housing project off Dickerson Road in East Nashville, but the official opening ceremony yesterday highlighted the dramatic change in the neighborhood.
As part of the HOPE VI program the federal Housing and Urban Development department provided a 20-million dollar grant in 2003, to completely tear down and replace the square, brick housing with colorful duplexes.
Randall Dunn is the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency’s director general services. He says even though the new Sam Levy neighborhood will have just under half the units of the original development, the city is still able to take care of demand for public housing.
“Between the three HOPE-VIs that we’ve done so far, we actually end up with about the same number or even a few more units because there’s a home ownership component, we have the 228 units we built here, plus HUD gives us additional section 8 vouchers so that people have a choice, they can work towards home ownership or they can move back into Sam Levy hopefully or they can take the section 8 vouchers and find housing in the private market.”
Sam Levy has 40-units of market rate rentals. M-D-H-A is screening residents before they’re allowed to move back in, doing criminal background checks and making sure residents have employment goals. The city hopes these measures and the mixed-income levels will lower crime rates in the area.
For returning resident Cassandra Shears, the difference can already be felt.
“It’s totally different. Believe me. Totally. It’s like you leave the country and go to someplace you’ve never been before because that’s how this is.”
Two other HOPE-6 neighborhoods, Vine Hill and Preston Taylor have been completed, and one more, John Henry Hale off Charlotte Avenue, is under construction.
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