[StBernard] Road Home property buyouts-what happens

[Westley Annis]

Randy,
 
I was mentioning the area around Kaiser.  
 
Now, let me mention something here.  When my parents moved to the parish in
the 70s from Kentucky, they had asked a family member to look for houses for
us in the parish.  That family member never bothered to really look until we
got down there.  So there we were,staying with her with no housing prospects
at hand.  So, my parents had to start looking for a house immediately.  They
rented an apartment temporairly on Farmsite Rd.  Then they looked at the
housing development behind Farmsite, Plantation Village.  They were FHA 235
houses; low income.  Since my dad only had his Army retirement check; they
qualified.  After that when Dad got a job with Amstar their house note when
up  each year until the point he decided to pay it off.  By the time my dad
retired from Amstar, between his pay there and his retirement he was earning
over $80,000 a year.  Hardly low income.  My parents kept that property up
and immaculate.  What I'm trying to say is that "low income" does not
necessarily mean "trash" as some would think.
 
JLY



	-----------------------------------------------------
	Are you talking about Chalmette Vista as the area of low income
housing 
	along St. Bernard Hwy near Kaiser? That is a lot different than a
low 
	income development.
	
	Didn't New Orleans either pass or propose that adjacent property
owners 
	would have first option on any buyout properties when they are sold?
I 
	think that would be an excellent idea that would preserve the
integrity of 
	neighborhoods that have a few isolated properties that take the
buyout. 
	Some people would take the opportunity to expand the yard, lessening

	density. Others may move a child or parent into the neighborhood. I
would 
	think it would be much better that packaging them and selling them
off to 
	the politically connected or large developers that may seek to
maximize 
	shareholder value thru tax credits for low income housing or some
other way 
	to maximize shareholder value at the expense of the neighbors.
	
	I would think areas that have mass buyouts would be better suited
for 
	packaging to developers.
	
	Randy