Ten Years Of Mixed-Income Housing In Seattle

A look at the NewHolly HOPE VI public housing development, complete with successes and failures.

1 minute read

July 15, 2005, 9:00 AM PDT

"NewHolly, the mixed income redevelopment in Southeast Seattle sprung from the public-housing project Holly Park" with help from a HOPE VI grant. The Seattle Housing Authority is finally "[o]n the verge of completing the 118-acre, 1,451-unit redevelopment after more than a decade of planning and building...What NewHolly has revealed is that the presence of public-housing residents doesn't matter a damn to home buyers in Seattle's crazy real-estate bubble." The increased density of NewHolly makes it relatively unique among HOPE VI projects, although "Housing Authority officials say that 25 percent of its homes are 'affordable,' but that's affordable to lower-middle-class folks making 80 percent of the area's median income (and even then it's a stretch), not public-housing residents who earn less than 30 percent of the median." Has the project improved the neighborhood, and the lives of original residents?

Thanks to David Gest

FULL STORY: Rich House, Poor House

Wednesday, July 13, 2005 in Seattle Weekly

Housing Washington

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