I just want what you have . . . part 2

Back in July, I wrote about the Dallas Housing Authority building townhome projects in affluent neighborhoods. It is their contention that putting poor people on the dole in the midst of people who work for a living will improve the standards of the "poor people" on the dole. My contention is that the "poor people" are what make the area blighted -- You can take the "poor person" out of the slum, but you can't take the slum out of the "poor person."

Granted, the projects I'm about to tell you about are not in an affluent neighborhood, but I think they prove my point. In 2005, Dallas tore down the blighted Frazier Courts public housing complex in South Dallas. That area is now covered with bright new townhome style residences -- "the new face of public housing." The complex is now called Frazier Wahoo.

The newspaper reports that on a recent afternoon, they observed "residents scurried inside when a group of young men congregated on a front porch to gamble with dice. They shouted expletives menacingly, while loud music from their car made neighbors' windows rattle."

Residents complain of rodent infestation. Alpha-Barnes Real Estate Management, under contract to DHA to run the place, says the rodents are a result of filth on the part of the residents. Residents also complain about shoddy carpet -- again, a result of filth on their part according to Alpha-Barnes. The conclusion of The Dallas Morning News editorial is that "If Frazier Wahoo goes bad, it will drag the surrounding neighborhood with it."

Isn't that what people in affluent areas have been saying about these projects all along?

"New Face, Old Problems." The Dallas Morning News; November 28, 2008; p. 22A.