Front Door Pride Hides Our Back Door Embarrassments

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What appears to be an urban development program with good intentions has now left the city of Evansville shaking their heads. It’s no secret that those living in the Evansville area aren’t too happy with the government program “Front Door Pride.” There are many reasons why we should be excited that our city is giving a genuine effort to rebuild our urban core, but at the same time, there are also many reasons why we should demand Front Door Pride be reformed. Why is Front Door Pride in need of reform?

For starters, the program fails miserably at taking into account its market. Obviously, anytime you are paying around $200,000 to build a home and then selling it on the market for a little over $100,000, you have to wonder if A. Your program understands capitalism B. Your program is sustainable. Yes, I do believe that the Front Door Pride neighborhood deserves to have nice houses. I think it’s a great thing to drive through some of these neighborhoods and see change taking place in an area that once had no hope.  But I also fail to see how a neighborhood who has been hit hard by the economy can afford houses that are priced over $100,000 even after the city takes a major financial hit.

One organization that Front Door Pride should look to for guidance and advice is Habitat For Humanity. Located just a few blocks down from the Front Door Pride homes, you will see Habitat For Humanity houses that are priced in the $50,000 range. And if you drive through their neighborhood, you will see that just about all of these houses have been spoken for by needy, and much deserving, families who simply cannot afford the lavish Front Door Pride homes.

Another failed policy that Front Door Pride needs to reform is their practice of buying houses here, there, everywhere. When you drive through the Front Door Pride neighborhoods, you will see nice and new $100,000 plus homes that the city just completed standing right next to homes that are just barely standing. One look at this alignment will tell you that this nice, new Front Door Pride home is probably going to lose some of its value because the city failed to build their houses together.

On the flip side, the Habitat For Humanity homes were built together in blocks. As a result, the entire neighborhood has been completely transformed, the property values are all about the same minus a few perks on each lot, and the spirit of the neighborhood has been effectively changed. This is what we need out of our Front Door Pride program.

As someone who believes that the key to turning around Evansville is through successful implementation of Smart Growth practices, I also believe that the city and Habitat for Humanity should consider building high-rises in these districts in order to improve Evansville’s urban density while using less land at the same time. High-rises would also do a better job of improving neighborhood relations than the basic one room/one level houses that are split from their neighbors.

Lastly but most importantly, I can’t stress enough that the Front Door Pride program needs to be moved around the city regions from time to time. Although I’m glad our city started with the 4^th Ward since it has been hit hard by the economy over the years and has seen very little, if any, government investment in it, I do believe that it is time for the Front Door Pride program to begin laying down roots in other Wards once it has been reformed.

When you have some free time, take a stroll through the 3^rd Ward neighborhoods that are bounded by Main Street, Franklin Street, Virginia Street, and the old Hercules Motor Company buildings next to US 41. I have taken several pictures of these neighborhoods and have enclosed them for you to see.

http://fighttheblight.blogspot.com/2013/02/bringing-to-light-third-ward-blight.html

The condition of this region is something you have to see in person in order to grasp the gravity of the situation. Once the manufacturing companies around the neighborhood moved out, these neighborhoods have been left to fight for themselves.

If done correctly, these neighborhoods can be a source of pride for our city. They can help us attract small manufacturing and technology companies to the old Hercules Plant buildings as well as Berry Plastics, they can extend our Downtown investments, and they can show that our city is committed to bringing prosperity and hope to all Wards in the city.

At one of the mayor’s traveling town hall meetings, I sat down with Mr. Philip Hooper of the Department of Metropolitan Development. He told me that many of the young professionals who recently moved here to work for the company SS&C were looking for urban housing where they could walk or take mass transit to their office. He also said the city was interested in rebuilding the Jacobsville neighborhoods with young professional housing so that Main Street was connected from the Ford Center to Bosse Field.

There is no reason that our Front Door Pride cannot be revamped and partially relocated. The neighborhoods in the 3^rd Ward are simply unacceptable, especially when they come with so much potential. Instead of Front Door Pride spending double on a home and then leaving it all by itself, shouldn’t our city be building affordable housing in bulk in all wards like the 3^rd Ward? Shouldn’t those representing the 3^rd Ward be fighting to bring both public and private urban renewal projects to this area?

It’s time for urban renewal in the 3^rd Ward, it’s time our Front Door Pride stopped hiding our back door embarrassments!