Baltimore officials want to buy seven homes next to a park that's been closed because of arsenic contamination.
The homes would be demolished to make way for the West Covington project in south Baltimore. Plans call for hundreds of homes and more than a million square feet of retail space and offices next to Swann Park, which is being cleaned up and will reopen.
Some of the homeowners next to Swann Park say they want to leave. But others say they're worried the city won't give them a fair price. The park was closed after arsenic contamination dating from the 1970s was discovered last year. (wbaltv.com)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Bills seek to ease crisis in housing
Gov. Martin O'Malley held his first bill signing of the year yesterday to enact a number of emergency bills designed to address the foreclosure crisis gripping the state.
The Democratic governor approved three bills to lengthen the minimum length of foreclosure proceedings from 15 days to more than four months, to enact tougher criminal sanctions against mortgage fraud and to crack down on foreclosure-rescue scams in which troubled borrowers are duped into losing title to their homes.
O'Malley and legislative leaders said they wanted the bills signed as soon as possible because, as emergency legislation, they become law immediately. State officials cited a worsening housing crisis in which more than 13,000 homeowners in Maryland were in foreclosure at the end of last year, a 150 percent increase from the previous year.
A group of homeowners who have lost their homes to foreclosure or who are faced with the prospect of losing their homes joined the ceremony. "I hope that you can see we are trying, and that we're all in this together," O'Malley told the crowd. (baltimoresun.com)
The Democratic governor approved three bills to lengthen the minimum length of foreclosure proceedings from 15 days to more than four months, to enact tougher criminal sanctions against mortgage fraud and to crack down on foreclosure-rescue scams in which troubled borrowers are duped into losing title to their homes.
O'Malley and legislative leaders said they wanted the bills signed as soon as possible because, as emergency legislation, they become law immediately. State officials cited a worsening housing crisis in which more than 13,000 homeowners in Maryland were in foreclosure at the end of last year, a 150 percent increase from the previous year.
A group of homeowners who have lost their homes to foreclosure or who are faced with the prospect of losing their homes joined the ceremony. "I hope that you can see we are trying, and that we're all in this together," O'Malley told the crowd. (baltimoresun.com)
Monday, April 7, 2008
Hope for public housing
Alphonso R. Jackson took credit for improving public housing when he announced his resignation last week as secretary of housing and urban development. But, in fact, the Bush administration has attempted to starve the once-promising Hope VI program aimed at urban poverty. Members of Congress, including Maryland's Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, have kept it on life support, and now a more ambitious revitalization deserves passage.
Since 1992, Hope VI has used more than $6 billion in federal funds to help alleviate concentrated poverty by replacing dilapidated public housing projects with mixed-income development. The program offered chances at homeownership and other opportunities to boost the economic fortunes of neighborhoods and their residents.
But too often, low-income residents have seen their homes destroyed but not replaced. And while many families have been able to use vouchers to resettle in better neighborhoods, others have found their housing options limited. In Baltimore, complexes such as Pleasant View Gardens and the Terraces replaced crime-ridden projects, but there were fewer new units and some displaced families no longer qualified.
Nationally, the Hope VI revitalization effort led to a net loss of 43,000 public housing units between 1992 and 2006, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute. And many of the more than 1 million public housing units remaining have fallen into disrepair for lack of federal investment.
But Congress is considering new versions of Hope VI with significant and necessary changes that deserve support. In January, the House passed a bill that would mostly require one-for-one replacement of demolished units. It would also give residents more of a voice in planning and provide more support services to those who relocate.
Senator Mikulski is pushing a bill that would give housing authorities more leeway to decide whether to replace demolished units and tries to link access to new units to improved school performance of resident children. The House version, which also offers displaced residents better opportunities to occupy new housing, is generally preferable, but the differences between the bills are hardly irreconcilable.
After years of neglect, what's most important is to restore viability to Hope VI and offer better public housing options. (baltimoresun.com)
Since 1992, Hope VI has used more than $6 billion in federal funds to help alleviate concentrated poverty by replacing dilapidated public housing projects with mixed-income development. The program offered chances at homeownership and other opportunities to boost the economic fortunes of neighborhoods and their residents.
But too often, low-income residents have seen their homes destroyed but not replaced. And while many families have been able to use vouchers to resettle in better neighborhoods, others have found their housing options limited. In Baltimore, complexes such as Pleasant View Gardens and the Terraces replaced crime-ridden projects, but there were fewer new units and some displaced families no longer qualified.
Nationally, the Hope VI revitalization effort led to a net loss of 43,000 public housing units between 1992 and 2006, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute. And many of the more than 1 million public housing units remaining have fallen into disrepair for lack of federal investment.
But Congress is considering new versions of Hope VI with significant and necessary changes that deserve support. In January, the House passed a bill that would mostly require one-for-one replacement of demolished units. It would also give residents more of a voice in planning and provide more support services to those who relocate.
Senator Mikulski is pushing a bill that would give housing authorities more leeway to decide whether to replace demolished units and tries to link access to new units to improved school performance of resident children. The House version, which also offers displaced residents better opportunities to occupy new housing, is generally preferable, but the differences between the bills are hardly irreconcilable.
After years of neglect, what's most important is to restore viability to Hope VI and offer better public housing options. (baltimoresun.com)
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