Westside Promise Zone Residents and Partners witness firsthand progress in their community

Westside Promise Zone (WPZ) community partners and residents with HUD Region IV Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett, HUD Georgia Office Michael German, HUD (WPZ) Community Liaison Johnnie Lattimore, and (WPZ) Director, Rodney Milton, City of Atlanta at the Home Depot Backyard in the Westside Promise Zone.

The City of Atlanta recently hosted a construction tour for Westside Promise Zone (WPZ) residents, including HUD and community partners, highlighting newly completed and forthcoming affordable housing developments, community facilities, and public infrastructure projects. The overarching goal of the bus tour was to continue to help WPZ residents stay informed about upcoming developments in their neighborhoods and to encourage community involvement with local partners and developers.

Some tour stops included the Legacy at Vine City, a 105 unit affordable housing development for seniors, the Martin Luther King Jr; Drive Innovation Corridor which is a 7.2 mile $43 million project with sidewalk enhancements that include updated pedestrian amenities and bike lanes; Scholars Landing, a 588 unit mixed use development that will include 100 units of affordable senior housing located in University CHOICE Neighborhood; the John H. Harland Boys & Girl Club, which serves as an Art Hub for 150 of Westside Atlanta's children and teens and the Rodney Cook Sr. Park at Vine City, a 16 acre park designed to alleviate flooding by storing up to 10 million gallons of stormwater while creating a vibrant green space for local residents to enjoy.

"Seeing firsthand the progress being made in the Westside Promise Zone community is encouraging," said Denise Cleveland-Leggett, HUD Region IV Administrator. "There still remains much more work to be done as partners in this extraordinary and life changing endeavor."

"High marks to all aspects of the event. Our collective experience deemed the tour engaging, interesting, informative and, above all eye-opening!" said Wanda Whiteside of Atlanta Housing. "All-in-all, it contributed to seeing the whole picture rather than piece-meal bits of the pie."

The Westside Promise Zone (WPZ) is a 10-year federal designation authorized by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Atlanta is one of 22 Promise Zones set up across the nation which are each largely characterized by high poverty and unemployment rates. The City's WPZ is comprised of five neighborhoods including Ashview Heights, Atlanta University Center, Castleberry Hill, Vine City and English Avenue. Through WPZ the City seeks to better alignment across initiatives led by community-based organizations which impact growth opportunities in the community. Through Promise Zones, national, local and philanthropic stakeholders, and community members are encouraged to develop partnerships, which address social and economic barriers within the assigned communities.

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