Where's the Subsidized Housing in Dallas Located? Let's Go to the PowerPoint.

By Robert Wilonsky Fri., Jul. 30 2010 at 10:38 AM

Categories: City Hall

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Forthcoming, my very early-morning chat with Mayor Tom Leppert, during which we touched on, among other things, his call for a citywide fake-weed ban, the now-sidelined Dallas Watersports Complex and the fallout from Monday night's surprise announcement concerning Cliff Manor. But during the interview, I asked the mayor about concerns that so much of the supportive housing in Dallas is located in the southern sector.

"We want them spread throughout the community," he said. "I asked for a chart that says where they are -- and not just the permanent supportive housing units, but where the Dallas Housing Authority has affordable housing units funded by the city and federal funds. We'll get you that that." And he did: Chris Heinbaugh, the mayor's chief of staff, forwarded the PowerPoint you'll find after the jump. That's where the chart above comes from -- you'll find it on Page 5.

Said the mayor, the chart reveals that "the PSHs are better distributed than people think. People think there are 50 percent in one district. They're spread out much more than people think. It's not a north-south thing." Nevertheless, Dave Neumann's district clearly has the highest concentration of subsidized housing in the city. Subsidized Housing Data Report Final Draft July 29 at Four Thirty

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Anonymous, you are exactly right: "The DHA was created for the very purpose to help facilitate segregation. It was created by the white millionaires to make sure black housing wasn't near them.." our millionaire board will not allow any more negro housing across the trinity river. we have instructed maryann russ to build more south dallas public housing to stuff them with homeless whackos to clean up downtown.
Look, we know of more units that are not in the numbers here, that are in the South, and it would catapult the numbers to around 90% of all units in the southern sector. City of Dallas, DHA have been working together to segregate housing for 50 years. The DHA was created for the very purpose to help facilitate segregation. It was created by the white millionaires to make sure black housing wasn't near them and their white neighborhoods, even if it meant given them a certain amount of money to buy them off or placate them. It has worked for a long time, but now, as mentioned above, the Chickens are coming home to Roust. As far as the Walker Consent Decree and the people behind it, such as Mike Daniels and Betsy Julian, IMHO they sold out when they got the big pay day from the City of Dallas and do nothing more than ship "those" people off to other cities now, not hardly living up to the spirit of the decree itself. IMHO they are perpetuating the problem and all is boiling up now for everyone to see what is really going on and how disgusting this situation really is. Stay tuned for some real fall out over all of this soon.
Great obfuscation by City Hall and DHA, with an apples to oranges comparison. Vouchers aren't restricted to any geographic location, just to landlords that accept them so DHA has no control over their location. LIHTC properties for the most part have few tenants that are receiving rental assistance. On LIHTC properties the rents a capped (i.e. rent controlled) the tenants still have to meet credit and income requirements because they pay their own rent. Also, look at the first column it shows that Dist. 3 has 26% of DHA's owned units, looks like a concentration to me. Also, what about all the unlicensed State run facilities that were dumped in Oak Cliff in the past decade? It was a scandal around 2007. In fact these group homes are closing tenant profile, mentally ill, that any of the "affordable housing" properties. Per, one of these DMN articles they are concentrated in Oak Cliff and South Dallas. "Quality of group homes in Dallas County is uneven:Advocates say neglect too common in state program for disabled" http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/021208dntexhomecare.3993086.html "Mental health agency investigates 'horrific' board and care homes" http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/dallas/stories/DN-flophouses_17met.ART.North.Edition1.424046e.html "Troubled residents languish in flophouses: Who's minding those who house the mentally ill and elderly? After seeing the squalor in Dallas, some would say nobody" http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/042907dnentflophouses.38f1a20.html I think these facilities need to be factored in. After a decade of neglecting affordable multifamily housing, in favor of high-end condos and lame single family development (see Schutz's downtown stories) the chickens are coming home to roust. I wonder if the Walker Consent Decree has something to do with this too?
I'm looking at Kadane, Allen and Koop's districts, all of which are either in East or North Dallas, and all of which have DART rail lines. Of course, I can tell you EXACTLY where Allen's PSH units are located.... Vickery Meadow.
dart lines are meant to keep the poor homeless people in south dallas and oak cliff we run our routes up hillcrest, preston and inwood to get the poor people into and out of preston hollow where mayor tom and his millionaire buddies on dha's board live. if you don;t believe me, have you ever seen a white person on a dart bus on preston road?
The lack of Public Transportation (DART) doesn't prevent DHA from sending Housing Choice Voucher receipients to remote "high opportunity" locations (Sunnyvale, McKinney, Allen, Flower Mound, etc.)
What complicates reading these numbers is that at least two councilpeople (Carolyn Davis and Steve Salazar) have districts that are both in the northern and southern half of the city. And some people want to focus JUST on permanent supportive housing units, which is not the issue in the mind of Oak Cliff residents like myself. Bottom line: when you add up ALL of the subsidized housing in Dallas, the southern sector has AT LEAST twice as much as the northern half. And saying you must put subsidized housing primarily in neighborhoods with the best public transport is like saying you need to put the election polls primarily in neighborhoods with the best public transport. You just don't do that because, well, it's DISCRIMNATORY to do that. If it's a city responsibility you are talking about, the ENTIRE CITY, in equal measure, should both benefit from it AND bear the responsibility of it. BOTTOM LINE.
The Mayor appoints the millionaire DHA board and lives out there with them.We have seen in the past two weeks mentally ill people already live in Preston Hollow and hold public office Mayor Jayne Peters.Oak Cliff is not a slum,some of you people should drive out and see before you make such silly statements.Preston Hollow also has very good DART service for the domestic help and all major grocery store chains.People normally live where they feel comfortable and welcome.
the north dallas permanent supportive housing units are maids and butlers that live in our million dollar mansions. us millionaires that control dha's board have told maryann to make certain that no mentally ill homeless people are ever allowed north of the trinity river. when the economy improves and more of my rich, white caucasion neighbors can afford live in help, the ratio will get to 50-50.
Lake Highlands takes a representative sample, though that seems to be the exception on our side of the 30.
How is this evenly distributed between North and South? 70% of the units are in the South.
I'm very skeptical of the 1,151 Permanent Supportive Housing Units shown in the chart. I'd like to see the detail that supports that number. Also, are these 1,151 PSH units all occupied by formerly homeless? How is PSH being defined? What is the difference between the 1,151 PSH units shown and other types of units shown in the chart? By the way, I think the Mayor mis-spoke. The percentage of low income housing units in the Southern Sector appears to be more than 77% to me, with less than 23% in the Northern Sector. So, it definitely looks like a North-South issue to me. Now that the numbers have been disclosed (probably loaded with "spin", and far less than accurate), I can understand and appreciate why the Oak Cliff people have reacted the way they have
20,981 of the 41,523 units, slightly over half, are in just three of the 14 districts; 3, 7 and 8. That seems pretty concentrated to me.
Did he really say that it's not a North-South issue? That's not the conclusion I reach when I look at these numbers. I'd agree that the units are better distributed than people would think, but only because the expectations are so absurdly low to begin with.
with the mentally ill homeless people moving in, i'm outta here. i don't want people askin me for change and bummin my cigarettes can't wait to move across the river!!!
It is economics that prevent subsidized housing from coming to certain areas of Dallas. Even on subsidized housing, they want the most bang for their buck. If you want to build housing that will take up 5 acres, do you want to pay $10,000/acre or $50,000/acre (numbers from the top of my head). And, as has already been pointed out, transportation is important too. I've been without a vehicle in Dallas. I was so happy I chose an apartment complex that was close to a grocery store. Picture carrying a weeks groceries, and having to walk a long distance or ride DART to get there. Now picture this in August. Let's face it, places like Preston Hollow do not have a large number of grocery stores.
sweeet!!!!! move mentally ill people from the bridge into my public housing project and i move to north dallas where laura miller and all the rich soccer moms hang out...
^lol But on a more serious note there are some logistical reasons for limiting the distribution to certain areas of the city that I'm surprised no one has mentioned. DART. Job and life opportunities in Dallas generally require mobility. There's more DART lines and service to certain sectors of the city as opposed to others. You can argue about how it came to be this way, but fact is dumping some carless homeless folks in Preston Hollow wouldn't be very wise. They're stranded in a pseudo suburban oasis where it becomes very difficult to get to the places they need to be around the city. There are few DART buses and the ones that are there run less frequently. This is part of the ridiculous "stigma" that DART faces in Dallas but if you want people to have opportunity in this city the need to be mobile is just a reality.
i have told maryann russ that there will not be any mentally ill homeless people moving to preston hollow where my millionaire friends and i reside. they will be moved to oak cliff and south dallas where they blend in with the poor people in those slums. the only poor people allowed in my neighborhood perforn housework and yard care during daylight hours.