Taunton Housing Authority receives $22M grant to demolish, rebuild Fairfax Gardens

    Rome wasn't built in a day or demolished in ten years.  This could be good news as most can no longer afford to buy or live in a single family home and we could soon all be 'cliff dwellers'.  I just do not know why we have to keep demolishing and re-financing the same projects over and over.  Is the construction of the first complex built with government money not up to standards or code or is it too small and so unsafe and filthy to just fix and paint?  Does public housing really work? Well we soon will have no choice  to compare now will we?

TAUNTON —

The Taunton Housing Authority was awarded a $22 million grant on Monday from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to demolish Fairfax Gardens and replace it with “mixed-income” rental units.
The Taunton Housing Authority (THA) plans to use the HOPE VI grant for a $71 million project, utilizing the grant in combination with leveraging $41 million in low income housing tax credits and investments from the private sector. The redevelopment project consists of demolishing the 150 barracks-style units that make up the Fairfax Gardens development, constructing 88 townhouse-style units in their place and also creating 72 mixed-income rental units at a separate location in downtown Taunton.
“Once these developments are complete, you will see some attractive housing units befitting this city,” said Colleen Doherty, who has been executive director of the THA for 13 years. “More importantly, you will see lives being transformed through a variety of HOPE VI service programs. This is an opportunity for Fairfax Gardens’ residents to reach their goals of self-sufficiency.”


  Hope or dependency?