City of Garland’s Post

Check out our Director of Fair Housing and Municipal Engagement, Whitney Demetrius, and CHAPA alum, Eric Shupin in this documentary!

In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth, we’re spotlighting The 345, our men’s housing program that occupies the former space of the historic 1950s-era Black-owned Danzig Motel. The building was originally built by O.T. Bell in 1959, and was one of the only operating Black-owned motels in Atlanta. In transforming the dilapidated property into The 345, we wanted to keep our focus on Westside neighborhood residents. The goal is to bolster the availability of affordable solutions for existing residents, the majority of whom are Black, who have long endured a blighted neighborhood with scarce quality housing options. “The 345 is just one example of how we are working to uncover and restore critical pillars of this community by tackling one of its most pervasive issues: lack of affordable housing,” said Bruce Deel, Founder and CEO of City of Refuge. As rents and home prices continue to rise, The 345 is one of our first iterations of our goal to create housing opportunities where displacement poses a threat to legacy residents. Since The 345 opened in May 2023, we’ve housed over 30 residents. By investing in affordable housing, we are better able to help reposition Atlanta’s historic Westside neighborhood as a thriving, vibrant, and inclusive community. #CityofRefuge https://lnkd.in/eC4zDm4H

Jackson Redevelopment Authority in concert with partners 2C Mississippi announced an initial $1.5 million dollar green infrastructure investment in the Farish Street Historic District. Farish Street, sometimes referred to as a Black Wall Street was a center of Black business and culture in Jackson, Mississippi that thrived in spite of the challenges of segregation and racism. Many organizations and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement lived and worked there, making Farish street a symbol of Black socio-political resiliency. With the advent of integration of public schools combined with the systemic underinvestment that followed, the street began to decline. The Farish Street project was chosen by community members based on two factors, (1)the Urban Heat Island data collected for Jackson revealed that Farish Street is an extreme urban heat island, recording 10°F hotter than other parts of the city, and (2) Farish Street has historical significance. Learn more about the project: www.2cmississippi.org/ #EconomicDevelopment #CommunityBuilder #DowntownJackson #JacksonStrong #TheStandard #JRA #JacksonRedevelopmentAuthority #ChangingTheNarrative

High Shoals Falls, South Mountain State Park, NC

What do you think about Mayor Whitmire’s plans? In my opinion, Houston is ready to compete and diviserfy itself in order to do so. There are many other factors that would need to be explored and further improved (such as additional security, funding, mass transit, high end hotels) in order to make this happen. Every city across the nation needs improvement to continue to better the visitors and pedestrian experience and this experience is ever changing. The question is what are the right improvements and what is the cost to do so…. #HoustonCRE #HoustonCBD #Improvments

The City of Yes! The new proposed zoning concepts can change the City forever. Zoning is a quality-of-life issue, and the changes proposed could significantly impact the future of the City. I'm sharing the following graphic presentation to give you a better understanding of the proposal. #cityofyes #mayoradams #brookbrokers #nyczoning #brooklyn #bk #nyc #qualityoflife

There is still time to have your say. “Create a town that people are proud to live in and excited to visit” We’re on a fact-finding mission and we need your help to understand what you as a resident, business or visitor to Bedford or Kempston think we need to make our towns places people are proud to live in and excited to visit. Here are some pointers to help with your thoughts and ideas: Why do you come to our town centres? How can we brighten up our town centres? How can Bedford and Kempston become more family-focused? Should we make more of the history of the areas? How would you improve the entrances to our town centres? Please get your thoughts to us by Wednesday 31 January, details of how to submit your ideas can be found at https://lnkd.in/esGeThaR We know we've lots of people on here who are really passionate about what they believe town centres should be, with some really exciting ideas. We always enjoy reading your comments and will answer where we can, but please remember if you're adding your thoughts in the comments below you will also need to submit your ideas by email or in writing for them to be considered by the team. #bedford #kempston

Here's what to watch for at Raleigh's City Council this week.

Greater Bethel

We all know the critical importance of Main Streets to community vitality…at least I hope we do. 😉 Of course we also know that many Main Streets have faced waves of challenges over the past century. Well this article about Morristown (not our Morristown in N.J.) shares a glimmer of hope!