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2009-08-16 BACK
What can $20 million do for one neighborhood?
What can $20 million do for one neighborhood? This article originally appeared in the Texarkana Gazette on August 16, 2009 Dr. David Reavis, Assistant Professor of MIS, Texas A&M-Texarkana, College of Business You may have heard about the $20 million HOPE VI grant to revitalize three public housing facilities in Texarkana's Rosehill Neighborhood. The HOPE VI program was designed to help revitalize severely distressed public housing through physical improvements, management improvements, and social and community services. The bulk of the physical improvements involve tearing down three public housing facilities. Griff King Homes, Stevens Courts, and Covington Homes will be holistically redeveloped using funds from the HOPE VI grant and significant resources provided by the city. The replacement facilities will provide significantly better living quarters and other amenities that were not provided when the original units opened in the 1940's and 1050's. It's easy to see how new buildings are better than 60 year old buildings. But the physical structures are only part of the expected improvements. Some people involved in the project are hoping to improve other "quality of life" aspects of the neighborhood such as the crime rate, use of drugs, overall physical health of residents, economic opportunities, and educational outcomes. Can these non-physical improvements be made in tandem with the rebuilding of the physical housing units? That question will be answered more than once. A group of faculty researchers at Texas A&M University-Texarkana have begun working on exactly how to answer that and other questions about the HOPE VI project in Rosehill. The group is led by Dr. Rosanne Stripling and Dr. David Allard and is comprised of Dr. Angela Sikorski, Dr. David Reavis (myself), Dr. Leonard Peck, Dr. Gaynell Green, and Dr. Nurul Alam. Their task is to evaluate the beginning conditions of the neighborhood and housing facilities, then measure the same conditions after the first, second, and third year of the project. The final report will answer many questions about the investment from an experienced researcher's point of view. The progress reports given after the first and second years may be used to facilitate adjustments in the project, if needed. Mid-course corrections based on feedback from these progress reports may improve the chances for success in several areas of the program. Two of the specific areas targeted for study are the social issues and economic issues. The social issues include some of the "quality of life" issues identified above along with household stability, utilization of community services, and mental health problems. The economic factors will include income levels, employment levels, housing values, and tax dollars generated. By measuring these and other points of interest, the research group will be able to answer the question, "What can $20 million do for one neighborhood?" The study described above is designed to objectively evaluate the HOPE VI investment in the Rosehill neighborhood, but the project is already having a wider impact on Texarkana. Construction on the replacement facility for Covington Homes is already underway. This construction project supplies jobs and generates tax revenues on many levels as it progresses. If any of the other goals for the program are achieved, the benefit to our community will be felt in many ways. One community partner who expects to reap benefits from the project is the Texarkana Independent School District (TISD). TISD has made significant capital improvements to its facilities in the Rosehill neighborhood as part of a comprehensive master plan to revitalize the neighborhood. If family stability, domestic abuse, and crime rates can be improved, TISD's students will benefit from having fewer problems that result from these social ills. If employment rates, property values, and tax revenues improve in the neighborhood, then everyone in Texarkana and Bowie County will indirectly benefit. Over the next 4 years we will be able to measure and report the impact of this investment of public funds on the residents in these public housing units and the Rosehill neighborhood. The ability to conduct this research comes from past investments our community and the State of Texas has made in A&M-Texarkana. The fact that we have a group of qualified researchers, willing to investigate these research questions located in Texarkana is a benefit that shouldn't be overlooked. Just as the ability to provide researchers for the HOPE VI project was not part of the planning process for the investment in A&M-Texarkana, there will likely be unexpected benefits from the Rosehill neighborhood revitalization. Perhaps we will be able to answer the original question posed in this column even more precisely in 20 years or so. David Reavis is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at Texas A&M University-Texarkana and can be reached at David.Reavis@tamut.edu.
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What can $20 million do for one neighborhood?
What can $20 million do for one neighborhood? This article originally appeared in the Texarkana Gazette on August 16, 2009 Dr. David Reavis, Assistant Professor of MIS, Texas A&M-Texarkana, College of Business You may have heard about the $20 million HOPE VI grant to revitalize three public housing facilities in Texarkana's Rosehill Neighborhood. The HOPE VI program was designed to help revitalize severely distressed public housing through physical improvements, management improvements, and social and community services. The bulk of the physical improvements involve tearing down three public housing facilities. Griff King Homes, Stevens Courts, and Covington Homes will be holistically redeveloped using funds from the HOPE VI grant and significant resources provided by the city. The replacement facilities will provide significantly better living quarters and other amenities that were not provided when the original units opened in the 1940's and 1050's. It's easy to see how new buildings are better than 60 year old buildings. But the physical structures are only part of the expected improvements. Some people involved in the project are hoping to improve other "quality of life" aspects of the neighborhood such as the crime rate, use of drugs, overall physical health of residents, economic opportunities, and educational outcomes. Can these non-physical improvements be made in tandem with the rebuilding of the physical housing units? That question will be answered more than once. A group of faculty researchers at Texas A&M University-Texarkana have begun working on exactly how to answer that and other questions about the HOPE VI project in Rosehill. The group is led by Dr. Rosanne Stripling and Dr. David Allard and is comprised of Dr. Angela Sikorski, Dr. David Reavis (myself), Dr. Leonard Peck, Dr. Gaynell Green, and Dr. Nurul Alam. Their task is to evaluate the beginning conditions of the neighborhood and housing facilities, then measure the same conditions after the first, second, and third year of the project. The final report will answer many questions about the investment from an experienced researcher's point of view. The progress reports given after the first and second years may be used to facilitate adjustments in the project, if needed. Mid-course corrections based on feedback from these progress reports may improve the chances for success in several areas of the program. Two of the specific areas targeted for study are the social issues and economic issues. The social issues include some of the "quality of life" issues identified above along with household stability, utilization of community services, and mental health problems. The economic factors will include income levels, employment levels, housing values, and tax dollars generated. By measuring these and other points of interest, the research group will be able to answer the question, "What can $20 million do for one neighborhood?" The study described above is designed to objectively evaluate the HOPE VI investment in the Rosehill neighborhood, but the project is already having a wider impact on Texarkana. Construction on the replacement facility for Covington Homes is already underway. This construction project supplies jobs and generates tax revenues on many levels as it progresses. If any of the other goals for the program are achieved, the benefit to our community will be felt in many ways. One community partner who expects to reap benefits from the project is the Texarkana Independent School District (TISD). TISD has made significant capital improvements to its facilities in the Rosehill neighborhood as part of a comprehensive master plan to revitalize the neighborhood. If family stability, domestic abuse, and crime rates can be improved, TISD's students will benefit from having fewer problems that result from these social ills. If employment rates, property values, and tax revenues improve in the neighborhood, then everyone in Texarkana and Bowie County will indirectly benefit. Over the next 4 years we will be able to measure and report the impact of this investment of public funds on the residents in these public housing units and the Rosehill neighborhood. The ability to conduct this research comes from past investments our community and the State of Texas has made in A&M-Texarkana. The fact that we have a group of qualified researchers, willing to investigate these research questions located in Texarkana is a benefit that shouldn't be overlooked. Just as the ability to provide researchers for the HOPE VI project was not part of the planning process for the investment in A&M-Texarkana, there will likely be unexpected benefits from the Rosehill neighborhood revitalization. Perhaps we will be able to answer the original question posed in this column even more precisely in 20 years or so. David Reavis is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at Texas A&M University-Texarkana and can be reached at David.Reavis@tamut.edu.
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