Jordan Downs residents meet over their future
About 40 Jordan Downs housing project tenants gathered this afternoon to hear about city plans that could dramatically change their lives: tearing down the notorious Watts project and transforming it into a modern "urban village" with apartments and retail outlets.
Residents gathered in a meeting room to hear about the ambitious $1-billion city proposal that could include as many as 2,100 units, with both low-income and market-rate apartments. Financing would come from federal redevelopment money, state tax credits and private investment.
The meeting was the first in a six-month brainstorming process where residents can speak out about their needs and voice concerns about the development, said Larry Goins, director of development for the Los Angeles Housing Authority.
On Saturday, the group focused on how a new housing development could improve their lives. Residents said they are concerned about safety, need better transportation to and from the site, and the future needs to be cleaner. They complained that there are not enough dumpsters, causing garbage to overflow in lots.
They said they want a future that includes a gym for residents with diabetes, a grocery store on site that features healthy food and a greenhouse where they could grow their own vegetables.
"I can't wait," said Sylvia Gallager, who has lived in the project for 27 years. "I hope it comes to fruition."
Some experts said that a project of this magnitude, which would be among the largest in the city, would face formidable challenged in the current recession, and that the Housing Authority may have difficulty executing such a complex development.
Officials at the Saturday meeting said they hope that as word gets out about the plan, attendance at community meetings will grow. About 2,300 people live in the project. The next meeting is April 16 at the Jordan Downs recreation center.
--Ruben Vives
For the record: In a previous version of this post, Larry Goins' name was misspelled as "Goings."
The fact that only 40 residents showed up out of over 2,000 (what is that, like less than 5%?) speaks volumes about why things are the way they are in Jordan Downs. Either the tenants are uninformed and the Housing Authority is once again using their collective ignorance to its advantage, or they knew about the meeting but didn't care enough about their own futures to show up, and the Housing Authority is once again using their collective empathy to its advantage.
The administration of the Housing Authority has NEVER had any real respect for the people who live in the projects. Things like the scenario described in the article are part of the reason why.
Posted by: Courtney Kincaid | February 28, 2009 at 07:20 PM
These meetings were started in March, 2008 with lies from
Maxine Waters, Janice Hahn's staff, Mayor's staff and the
Housing Authority.
They are not telling the truth about the situation, they spent
money sending people all over the US to look at other
redevelopment when all they had to do was take some of
the residents to East Los Angeles.
The people who went on these trips are not residents.
Posted by: dot | February 28, 2009 at 10:35 PM
These meetings were started in March, 2008 with lies from
Maxine Waters, Janice Hahn's staff, Mayor's staff and the
Housing Authority.
They are not telling the truth about the situation, they spent
money sending people all over the US to look at other
redevelopment when all they had to do was take some of
the residents to East Los Angeles.
The people who went on these trips are not residents.
Posted by: dot | February 28, 2009 at 10:36 PM