New Haven Independent

Quinnipiac Terrace, a public housing project by the Quinnipiac River, is in the midst of a dramatic, $65 million transformation from densely concentrated barracks to roomier, pastel townhouses like the one pictured above at left.

A first phase of revitalization, 81 units, was completed this summer. The second phase, 79 units, began Wednesday in a demo-packed groundbreaking ceremony. Construction should be complete within 18 months, said Jimmy Miller, head of the housing authority (pictured below at right).

“I’m so happy that these buildings are going to be gone,” said Brenda Lopez (pictured), a former Q Terrace resident who just spent her first Thanksgiving with her kids in her newly renovated QT home.

Bob Solomon, chair of the board of directors of the Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH), recalled the day when he sued HANH on behalf of a tenant who slipped in a hole on the run-down old Q Terrace property.

“We’ve seen tremendous deterioration of public housing, and now its rebirth,” he said.

That rebirth came thanks to a $20 million grant from the federal HOPE VI program, which gives cities money to tear down dense old barracks for the poor, an old approach many consider a failure. The program replaces them with mixed-income, roomier homes with community centers. That means cutting back the number of public housing units at the Q Terrace/Riverview complex from 256 to 131, and adding owner-occupied homes and Section 8 rentals.

Mayor John DeStefano (pictured) praised HOPE VI for helping transform rundown Elm Haven into the Monterey Homes. He sees it as a model of how public housing should be, forming a stabler community through mixed-use and mixed-income development. The city tried, but failed, to get HOPE VI funds for the rundown West Rock projects, where a bogus scare about a police “lockdown” Tuesday revealed continuing problems with crime. DeStefano Wednesday assured inquiring TV reporters that no lockdown was in store. Instead, he encouraged participation in management teams. “The idea of locking down neighborhoods is a bad idea.”

He said HANH plans to rebuild West Rock projects anyway, without HOPE VI funds. But he and others emphasized the need to revive the dwindling HOPE VI program so the city can make more transformations like Q Terrace.

“All of us need to take the message to Congress that the HOPE VI program in its heydey … needs to be restored,” said Mayor DeStefano. When the city got the $20 million grant in 2003, only $100 million in HOPE VI funds were available nationwide, he said. That’s not much to spread around.

U.S. Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro, reached Wednesday, said HOPE VI funds have been cut by a third since fiscal year 2004.

“This is unconscionable, particularly in our state of Connecticut, where we have seen home prices climb by over 49 percent since 2000. In the new Congress we must look for increased funding for our housing authorities so that we can increase access to affordable housing.”