After declining for decades, a key part of Flint’s 1960s urban renewal is coming down this week.
The Atherton East apartment complex was built six decades ago to provide much needed public housing.
But decades of neglect and a lack of investment contributed to a serious decline, made worse by the complex's location in a flood plain.
Crime and blight only added to the isolation that many residents felt.
The city received a $30 million federal grant in 2018 to create new public housing and demolish the aging complex.
“Today we tear down what’s no longer useful to us here in the community,” Mayor Sheldon Neeley said, “but in doing so, we bring back hope.”
In the short term, green space will take the place of old public housing.
The longer term plan remains unclear, but officials are not ruling out some new public housing.
“Hopefully, years from now, we can develop on it,” said David Northern, CEO of the Flint Housing Commission.
