LH Press Library
Working Together for Better Housing
Dallas Morning News, by Kim Horner
July 20, 2003
Many Lake Highlands homeowners didn't welcome the idea of public housing in their neighborhood last fall.
But now, even some of the strongest critics are optimistic about the project.
"We said, 'OK, they're here,' " said Terri Woods, president of the Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association. "How can we make this as positive as possible?"
The Dallas Housing Authority has faced opposition in several Dallas neighborhoods as it tries to comply with a 1995 federal desegregation order.
The court order requires the Dallas Housing Authority to make 3,205 homes available out of the high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods where most public housing is concentrated by March 2004.
Once the Lake Highlands project opens, the housing authority will be 119 units short of the requirement, which resulted from a court finding that officials forced thousands of poor minority families to live in taxpayer-supported slums for decades.
Far North Dallas homeowners sued over plans for public housing and stopped two of three proposed projects there. DHA remains in a legal dispute over one of those sites. East Dallas residents went to court to stop a project in that area but lost the case.
The Lake Highlands project was the first one that didn't end up in court. Instead, housing authority officials tried to convince neighbors that the agency will be a good landlord.
"We told them we would be part of that neighborhood, so their concerns will be ours, too," said Dallas Housing Authority spokeswoman Michelle Raglon. "I can't say there's 100 percent trust, but I think we have a really good start."
The housing authority is converting the Hidden Ridge Apartments into 226 public housing units that will open in August or September. Some current tenants will be eligible to continue living there.
So how did Lake Highlands residents learn to live with a public housing project in their neighborhood?
"When you're presented with something some would consider lemons, how are you going to get lemonade?" said longtime resident Donna Halstead, a former City Council member who is president of the Dallas Citizens Council. "I think the community has tried to do that."
Ms. Halstead, Ms. Woods and other neighborhood leaders worked out many of their concerns after months of task force meetings, which began in January.
"We thought if we could get everyone together, we could accomplish more than on our own," said Emery Powell, a homeowner who served as task force chairman.
Last fall, hundreds of residents attended a meeting to address concerns about public housing.
Homeowners worried that the project would generate crime and overcrowd schools in an area that already had an abundance of apartments. The complex is near Skillman Street and Interstate 635.
Adding accountability
Residents said they are frustrated with landlords who don't take care of the nearby apartment complexes. The Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association has formed a committee to try to work with area landlords to help solve problems.
"There are a lot of absentee landlords there. You can't touch them, but we're here," said Ms. Raglon, who served on the task force.
After working with residents, the Housing Authority agreed to several changes. One of the most significant ones limits guest stays to seven days. The lease previously allowed visitors to stay one month. Residents worried that long-term guests, who do not go through a screening process, may cause crime at the complex.
Other changes include creating a crime watch at Hidden Ridge and replacing the swimming pool with a playground.
In addition, the Housing Authority will give the Lake Highlands association regular reports on the number of people using Section 8 rental vouchers in the area, so residents can hold the Housing Authority accountable for any problems at those sites, too.
Residents also asked DHA to tighten its screening process to include juveniles who have been certified as adults in criminal court. Ms. Raglon said the agency is looking into whether it has the ability or resources to do that.
Changing perceptions
From the beginning, the Housing Authority planned to require Hidden Ridge tenants to be enrolled in its Family Self-Sufficiency program, which offers training to help residents move out of public housing, Ms. Raglon added.
"The Housing Authority really stepped up and made an effort to reach out to the neighborhood and other organizations in the neighborhood," said Jim Mattingly, an apartment manager and past president of the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas who served on the neighborhood task force. "The bottom line is there is a need for affordable and low-income housing in the Dallas area. ... It's in everyone's best interest to make affordable housing as neighborhood friendly as possible."
As the Housing Authority tries to meet the court desegregation order, officials hope to change the public's negative impression of public housing.
"A lot of it is because of fear – fear of the unknown, fear of different people. Sure, there may be some people who fit the stereotype, but for the most part, the people we serve want the same things everyone else does," Ms. Raglon said, listing decent housing, jobs and families as top priorities. "The difference is, they don't have the same opportunities."
Ms. Woods still doesn't think the complex of one-bedroom and efficiency apartments is adequate for families with children. She also considers it an "insult to the community" that the Housing Authority didn't disclose its plans when it bought the complex two years ago.
But Ms. Woods said she felt encouraged after sitting "face to face and talking over the issues" in the task force.
So do housing officials.
"That one was a good one for us because there was such opposition at first," said Ann Lott, the Housing Authority's president and chief executive officer. "We're committed to making it work."
Reprinted with permission of the Dallas Morning News.
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