THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505050279
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: John Pruitt
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
City Councilman Charles F. Brown, in a letter on this page today, raises issues that should convince his fellow council members and the Redevelopment and Housing Authority that it's past time to do something about Suffolk's shameful abundance of inferior dwellings and the outmoded approaches that have perpetuated the conditions.
Despite plenty of evidence that ownership is a key component in raising the standards of living for the poor, who for too long have been warehoused in rat holes unfit for habitation; and despite successes elsewhere, Suffolk has largely stayed on the track of public housing - refusing to recognize that it can never build enough of it to meet the need and that, in many instances, public housing is only improved warehousing.
And lest the Redevelopment and Housing Authority take all the blame, we should note that the failed approaches have been largely dictated by City Council.
What good is it, Councilman Brown asks, to plunk a resident in public housing and not give him the skills and support he needs to become self-sustaining?
For instance, what long-term good comes from placing an alcoholic couple in public housing, without also enabling their rehabilitation and job training?
The roof over their heads may not leak, but hope is as lacking in one as the other.
And while we're wondering why things haven't changed in officialdom, let's not overlook Suffolk's private real estate industry, a part of which continues to rake in dollars from buildings unworthy of even being called a home.
Where's the drive among them to do something collectively about conditions that doubtlessly make Suffolk less attractive to their better heeled customers?
In numerous instances, these property owners/operators have instead contributed to the downfall of neighborhoods by placing in them residents who have no basic knowledge of how to function in a neighborhood and no respect for those who do.
Instead of upgrading neighborhoods with houses in keeping with others, they've built cheap structures that, despite their newness, signal future decline.
Want an example of what happens when an area is transformed to rental? Drive along the section of Broad Street, between the bridge and Washington Street, and compare homes that have remained privately owned and those that have been transformed into apartments. Here's betting you'll know the difference, even if you've never traveled it before.
How does that get back to the Housing Authority? In the sense that, for all too long, emphasis has been on erecting public housing instead of enabling ownership in areas like Broad Street. If those homes could have remained single-family dwellings occupied by their owners, the street would look different today.
Instead of treating areas beginning to encounter decline, the authority has poured millions into areas in which neglect is so widespread that there simply is no fixing it.
And instead of a practical inspections program to intervene in the early stages of neglect, the city has a preposterous policy of inspection by complaint. City officials surely know it's self-defeating.
Councilman Brown is on the mark: ``We must rethink public housing and the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.'' It's time the authority acknowledged what it is: a public service agency, not a landlord creating future slums.
Suffolk's housing problems are so monumental that they require the attention of the private and public sectors. Citizens need to emphasize that they expect nothing less.
Councilman Brown must not let this discussion die. He says the Housing Authority has failed Suffolk citizens; he'll fail us too if he doesn't push for change. by CNB