It was in 1940, during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and before the United States was thrust into World War II by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that some of the public housing units in Chattanooga were built.
That was a long time ago – seven decades.
So obviously, some of the early public housing units now are showing the effects of time and wear and tear.
The Chattanooga Housing Authority, which manages local public housing, reports some of the units are in such bad condition that they should be torn down.
That raises two big challenges, of course: What about the people who would be displaced if their present public housing were demolished? And where would millions of dollars come from to replace the housing units that need to be razed?
If a reported 1,600 run-down units (more than half of those in Chattanooga) were demolished, there would be big housing problems for thousands of local people.
Those eligible to live in public housing are single people earning up to $31,300 a year and families of four earning up to $44,700 a year. Residents pay a third of their income for rent.
The oldest units include the East Lake Courts on Fourth Avenue and the College Hill Courts on Grove Street. They were built in 1940. Some other units – the Harriet Tubman Development, built in 1952 and 1962, and Cromwell Hills Apartments, built in 1981 – also have some questionable conditions.
The ultimate decisions will come from the Chattanooga Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Those decisions will involve lots of local people and lots of tax money. So they are awaited with a great deal of concern and interest by the current residents and our community in general.