Https tinyurl com neighborfeedback5/9/2023 “It’s been a good story,” Hay said while deflecting any backslaps. When this conversation took place in late August, sales were already pending on five of nine houses under construction. Houses on all sides have been bought as well, and even one nearby market-rate house sold as well.īeyond that block of Hamilton Street, the success stories are equally encouraging. Remember the “Hamilton Street murders,” the headline-grabbing mass killing in 2006 of seven adults and children in a home in the 500 block of Hamilton Street? A house now standing on that property was recently purchased, the buyers fully aware of the history, without even being listed. Here’s prime evidence the plan is working. They’re conscious of the impact a desirable housing market has and are diligent about seeking neighborhood input and feedback on their various initiatives and plans.” It’s not all about maxing out property values – and NEAR is in complete agreement. “As a neighborhood,” he said, “we want to be socially and economically diverse. Hogsett praised NEAR and its partners, including the city, for overcoming years of neglect from both the public and private sectors. Mayor Joe Hogsett takes his turn at the microphone during a Sept. It’s part of our intentional strategy.”įrye said the Neighborhood Association and NEAR are on the same page. “These 32 houses of the 100 will always be rented - and rented to low-income neighbors. “This is a family stabilization strategy,” Hay said. To quality to reside in the houses, renters must be at or below 50% of the area median income and also must send their children to one of two Indianapolis PUblic Schools – Thomas Gregg Neighborhood School or Washingon Irving School 14. Hay explained that NEAR developed 32 rental houses now owned and managed by John Boner Neighborhood Centers. “The conversation is that important in our community, and we should lead it,” the NEAR executive director said. The formula includes creating rental opportunities as well as home ownership – and ensuring that the rents don’t skyrocket along the way. The goal, he said, is even as a neighborhood got shinier, “that there still be room for folks with low incomes and extremely low incomes. To go from over 40 percent vacancy rate to the current mix of 100 affordable and market-rate housing is transformative,” added Frye, himself one of the people who has come to the area through NEAR efforts.īut how does an organization create a vibrant environment without gentrifying the neighborhood? One way is to create the Preserving Affordable Housing Working Group, which looks at all the economic development models and the tools for long-term sustainability. Clair Place would not be the neighborhood it is today without the neighborhood-focused approach NEAR has taken. Clair Place Neighborhood Association, “St. Clair Place, as well as for the many other Near Eastside neighborhoods in which NEAR works, is that the homes “need to be affordable – and for a long, long time.” He said the homes have brought to the neighborhood “an interesting mix of young families of cultural and social diversity.”įor Andrew Frye, president of the St. More importantly, about 95% of those new and rehabbed homes are “affordable,” sold to income-eligible buyers of low and moderate incomes. The milestone celebrated in mid-September is the 100th house in St. What is fruit for today’s discussion is the remarkable milestone being celebrated by Hay’s organization, Near East Renewal, more commonly known as NEAR. Whether gentrification is bad or good is a discussion for another day. The question John Franklin Hay spends a good deal of time thinking about is this: How does an organization work to bring a neighborhood out of blight and into social and economic health – while not crossing a gray line into an area which has, rightly or wrongly, become a dirty word in redevelopment. Clair Place project has resulted in 100 homes developed, all but three to low- and moderate-income households. The curb appeal of Jefferson Street has undergone a complete transformation in the past few years.
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