THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 30, 1994 TAG: 9409300519
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The housing authority is drawing up proposals to improve public housing, and the effect could make the city look safer as well as inspire more tenants to become homeowners.
A ``comprehensive approach'' being devised by the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority would include substantial physical improvements at and around public housing areas.
It also would feature social and educational programs aimed at preparing tenants to live in private-sector housing and improve academic performance of children living in public housing.
The proposals will be presented to the housing authority's commissioners and the City Council in two to four weeks, said Danny Cruce, agency director.
Ida Barbour public housing likely would be the first neighborhood for improvements, although much of the effort depends on federal funding, Cruce said.
The agency has applied for a $27 million grant to remodel the 600-unit complex, Cruce said.
Meanwhile, the authority already is buying about 30 acres around Ida Barbour for development of 100 to 150 affordable single-family houses. The agency hopes to create an upward mobility program that helps the public housing tenants buy the houses, Cruce said.
The proposals also would dovetail with a new master plan being devised for Portsmouth by Ray Gindroz, a Pittsburgh-based consultant.
On Thursday, Gindroz said improvements to public housing and development of nearby single-family houses would help make Portsmouth look safer.
But ``equally important in changing the image of public housing communities,'' Cruce said, ``is the socio-economic mix, to hopefully have two-parent families, role models, working families. . . .
A recent change in federal regulations could help Portsmouth phase in more two-parent and working families, Cruce said. Before, cities had to give housing first preference to the poorest.
The Portsmouth agency also is working with Schools Superintendent Richard Trumble to address truancy problems among children living in public housing, Cruce said.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY by CNB