Two north side neighborhoods release quality of life plans

Housing and access

Jon Boyd, Oct 21, 10.

Independence Heights and the Near North Side, two neighborhoods north of downtown, are taking a comprehensive approach to redeveloping their communities, says Mike Snyder of the Houston Chronicle. New affordable housing is being planned in coordination with transportation improvements, more conveniently located educational facilities, and improved public safety, according to the story:

A high school student takes a full-time job waiting tables to help his family avoid eviction. A bicyclist fears for his safety as he rides through a stinking, poorly maintained tunnel to get downtown. A 12-year-old girl rises daily at 5 a.m. to get to a distant campus because there’s no middle school near her home.

Residents of Houston’s near north side and Independence Heights neighborhoods told these stories Thursday as their leaders launched ambitious plans to develop affordable housing, strengthen infrastructure and improve education, among other goals.

In Independence Heights, for example, the plan calls for establishing vocational and college preparatory programs to improve educational opportunities. The north side plan proposes working with Metro to attract mixed-use developments along the light rail line under construction now.

The plans differ from previous urban revitalization efforts because they simultaneously confront a range of issues faced by neglected neighborhoods, said Amanda Timm, the Houston director of the Local Initiatives Support Corp., which helped to develop the plans.

“It’s a comprehensive approach,” Timm said. “Before, we just focused on real estate, on housing. Now it’s health care, schools, public safety.”

Neighborhood and nonprofit agency leaders presented the plans, more than a year in the making, to Mayor Annise Parker, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and other elected officials, all of whom pledged support.
The plans are more than wish lists: Each identified project includes a time frame and potential partner organizations such as government agencies, nonprofits, lenders and educational institutions.

Funding sources for some projects have been identified, Timm said, and some won’t require major capital investments but can be achieved by residents working with partner organizations.

Projects that meet needs identified in the plans already are under way, she said. For example, Avenue Community Development Corp., a nonprofit affordable housing developer, is building 95 single-family homes and 144 apartments on the site of a former FedEx freight terminal on the near north side.

LISC, Community Groups Present Neighborhood Revitalization Plans to Mayor for Northside and Independence Heights