The Tennessean has a story today on Habitat’s development in a certain section of Davidson County:

Habitat for Humanity project revives old fears
Earlier development didn’t bring big crime, low values

Some might describe Providence Park by mentioning how many American flags billow from its porches, how many flowers are planted in its yards or how many minivans sit in its driveways.

They might note the sea of mostly black and brown children that flows from Paragon Mills Elementary School or the sounds of crickets, teenagers playing basketball and traffic from nearby Interstate 24 that dominate its evenings.

But the neighborhood is more than all those things.

Habitat for Humanity’s largest affordable housing development in Tennessee is a community where residents change their financial lives. It’s the kind of place the Nashville affiliate of the nation’s best-known charitable housing developer points to as an example of its impact.

Since Providence Park opened adjacent to a longstanding Southeast Nashville neighborhood in 2003, home values in and around it have risen at a modest but a steady rate. Incidents of crime dropped in 2004, then increased somewhat in successive years, a Tennessean analysis of crime and housing data showed.

Continue reading ‘Habitat Development Fears Are Often Misconceptions’

The Tennessean has a story today on Habitat’s planned subdivision:

Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity has given up on 60 acres it had expected Metro government to donate for its controversial Park Preserve development, the agency’s chief executive said Monday.

Losing that land could cut the number of planned Habitat homes in the northeast Nashville subdivision from 450 to as low as 400, Habitat President and CEO Chris McCarthy said.
“At this point, in light of all the circumstances, we don’t need it,” McCarthy said. “I’d like it. It’s just not going to happen.”

The Metro Council would have to approve the transfer, which could be difficult because many people in nearby neighborhoods have been complaining about the impact the Habitat project would have. About 300 area residents turned out for a community meeting last week to air their concerns about traffic, crime and property values.

Habitat had planned to get the 60 acres of surplus land from the Metro Development and Housing Agency. But McCarthy said MDHA Executive Director Phil Ryan told her Friday that the land actually belongs to Metro’s central government – which once planned to convert it into a park – so the council has the right to decide who gets it.

“That 60 acres is out of the picture,” said Metro Councilman Walter Hunt, who met with Ryan and aides to Mayor Karl Dean earlier in the week.

220 acres still available
Habitat still plans to build on 220 acres it bought from Hardaway Construction this year for $2.2 million.

McCarthy said she doesn’t know exactly how many homes will still be possible.

Marcus Jordan, who is leading the opposition to Habitat’s plans, said the project is too big.

“People don’t want it, period,” he said. “People are going to fight to the end.”

McCarthy offered to meet with Jordan, who leads the Claymille Station Homeowners Association, and representatives of every other neighborhood that wants a say in how Park Preserve is built.

But Jordan said he doesn’t want to meet unless Habitat cancels a Metro Planning Commission hearing next week on the first phase of its plans, which would allow the nonprofit to build the first 34 houses in Park Preserve next summer.

McCarthy rejected that idea and said Habitat has consistently worked to accommodate its neighbors.

*Update: Here is the latest in today’s Tennessean.