London's pea soup fog now envelops the Midtown NSP.

An NSP victim.

A reader asks:

What's the current status of the SEJ grant money that was supposed to be paid back from renovated home sales, accrue interest and be used to continue the renovation of the "Midtown" neighborhood?

Is New Directions Housing Corp still handling / holding the money?

How many of those renovated (many to the tune of OVER $200,000 EACH in renovation costs) homes have been sold, and where are the promised future benefits from the project? I seem to remember the promise of a never ending stream of revenue.

Do you mean the houses dubbed Painted Ladies? It might lead to an Elton John song.

Coincidentally, the Courier-Journal's Lexy Gross recently asked me a variant of this same question. Apparently she's doing a story about the Midtown NSP, which I'll link when it appears.

I gave her my best answer, then decided to "check" my work by asking the same question of Jeff Gillenwater. As usual, he's far more succinct than me.

However, first go to the Midtown NSP website to see the various "official" claims being made as to the impact of the expenditures, which as recently as 2013 were viewed as sufficiently suspect that none other than Dan Coffey was asking for an audit.

In retrospect, this must have been when the demolition kickbacks began.

Anyway, the NSP's impact purportedly includes 29 rehabbed homes, the Cardinal Ritter House renovation and the 1321 Inspiration Community Garden.

That's a good question. I think that it being a good question is part of the answer. To my knowledge, people are saying very little because so little has been shared about the project.

Beyond the garden (which I didn't know was an NSP thing), there's been little to no community engagement. How can we have spent nearly $7 million in one neighborhood with neighbors so unaware of what's happening and having no idea where it's heading?

David Duggins scoffed at NSP early on, saying that he could transform New Albany with that much money. When I reminded him they'd already spent more than that on other things, he shut up.

Beyond that, it's another story of spending millions of public dollars on individual properties while not addressing the fundamental infrastructure issues that surround them. Then there are issues like the tavern. The top secret site plan is the only time I recall hearing anything about NSP in the past four years.

The over-arching point is that we've just concluded an election cycle in which the incumbent was able to flash photos of a few new houses in Midtown as evidence of unprecedented success. Local media gave it a pass. My campaign tried to reference the project, bu of course our reach was limited.

Where's the beef?

Can a member of the public access unbiased information to so much as start making sense of the claims?

We were saying it more than two years ago: Transparency? That's a fine idea. Found any yet?

Midtown Renaissance: It depends on what you mean by "painted lady."

I suspect the use of "painted ladies" is intended to imbue these rare instances of New Albanian urban infill with architectural respectability.

"Painted ladies" is a term in American architecture used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book Painted Ladies - San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians.

But while it's probably no longer politically correct, I prefer Elton John's word association.

"Painted lady" is a euphemism for a prostitute, but Elton's voice is in fine form in this 1976 recording.

More on the New Directions infill fix at 922 and City Hall's plans for Reisz.

As an addendum to yesterday's buttoned-up chronicle of covert building removal ...

ON THE AVENUES: Now on tap at the ghost of Haughey’s Place: The politics of pure spite.

... is offered by a regular reader, who tells us what is known about the replacement houses, i.e., what could not be publicly discussed by City Hall until after the wrecking ball landed.

New Directions Housing Corporation will soon take title to the property as part of Phase 2 of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. At least one, and maybe two new homes will be built. I am told that they will be "zero lot line" federal style, but that may change. Even though you may not agree with how they went about the demolition of Al Mel's, you've gotta like what NDHC has done with Phase 1 of the NSP. Some of those houses are downright beautiful. I would expect 922 Culbertson to be no different.

A different observer asks a question we've been pondering, too.

Why was Dan Coffey so imtimately involved in the tear-down at 922? Why did he push so hard and on whose behalf?

But Thursday's blog hit count winner evoked shades of Ceausescu.

Same architect as always releases plans for new New Albany City Hall.

It prompted this comment:

Jeff Gahan and Pat McLaughlin are confident that this administration grows more popular by the day (and that's why) they are already scoping out where to put their new city hall.

Bully!

Here's the press release: Walkability assessment training in Midtown on May 21.

The poster was up yesterday: Walkability assessment coming to Midtown on Saturday, May 21. Now, here's the rest of the story, courtesy of JP.

FREE WALKABILITY ASSESSMENT TRAINING AVAILABLE TO NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERS

Kentuckiana area residents are invited to learn first-hand about walkable neighborhoods, why walkability matters, how to do a walkability study, and what to do with it.

“On the Street: Walkability in Your Neighborhood” will take place May 21st from 9-11:30 a.m. in the Midtown New Albany neighborhood. The group will start at Destinations Booksellers at 604 E. Spring St in New Albany, Indiana. After a presentation, the group will break into walking groups and later reconvene for a catered lunch at Central Christian Church, 1315 E. Spring St.

The event is the second of a four-part series known as the ReciproCITY Project, which addresses neighborhood stability and health topics: vacant and abandoned properties, neighborhood walkability, urban and community gardening, and public art in neighborhoods.

The goal of “On the Street: Walkability in Your Neighborhood” is to empower grassroots leaders to improve the health and safety of their neighborhood and their neighbors. By taking a critical on-the-ground look at one neighborhood, community members can replicate the methods in their own. Once a neighborhood has a completed walkability study, they can work to improve their neighborhood’s pedestrian friendliness through grassroots efforts or by partnering with their elected officials.

The event is free and a catered lunch will be provided. Spaces are limited and reservations are required. To attend, RSVP with Lydia Comer at lydiac(at)ndhc.org.

ABOUT THE RECIPROCITY PROJECT AND NEIGHBORHOOD ROUNDTABLE

Both the Neighborhood Roundtable and the ReciproCITY Project are supported by New Directions Housing Corporation, a non-profit provider of affordable housing and development in the Louisville and Southern Indiana area. The ReciproCITY Project came from the Neighborhood Roundtable, a group comprised of representatives from many different neighborhoods and organizations in Louisville and Southern Indiana. Members of this group attended the 2010 NeighborWorks America Community Leadership Institute last October to learn about solving neighborhood problems.

Walkability assessment coming to Midtown on Saturday, May 21.

Press release coming soon.

Help New Directions continue helping New Albany.

Receiving word of our $6.7 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program award was indeed exciting. There are a lot of thank yous owed a lot of people. New Directions Housing Corporation is certainly among them.

New Directions not only provided assistance in preparing the NSP application but they've also consistently worked to create an environment in which such an award can flourish. For years, they've helped the less fortunate among us with their Repair Affair program and aided the City with emergency housing repair for the elderly and disabled.

In addition, the work of New Directions staff has made much needed revitalization training available to New Albany residents in recent years and helped build the professional relationships that ultimately led to a housing market study of our older neighborhoods. That study, along with other products of revitalization training, in turn helped make our NSP application successful.

In the spirit of thanks, I hope you'll take a moment to read the letter from New Directions Executive Director Joe Gliessner below and consider using the Facebook application linked to cast a vote for our friends in a selection process sponsored by Chase Community Giving. Top vote recipients will receive a grant and be made eligible to compete for further funding, up to $1 million.


In this season of thanksgiving, we are especially thankful for our past and current donors, volunteers and supporters. We would like to wish you all a happy and meaningful Thanksgiving holiday.

We would also like to ask you to vote for New Directions in the Chase Community Giving program. JPMorgan Chase Foundation is donating $5 million to local charities and they are asking Facebook users to select which organizations they will support. In Round 1 of the selection process, running now through December 14th, votes will be cast to support the 500,000 charities listed on the Chase Community Giving site. On December 15th, the top 100 organizations will each receive a $25,000 grant and move to the next round for a chance at one of five $100,000 grants or the top grant award of $1,000,000.

Voting is easy, and you can vote for up to 20 different organizations so you can support all of your favorites. To place your vote, go to the following web page:
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/

If you already have a Facebook account you can login here, or you can create an account here if you do not have one. After you are logged-in to the Chase Community Giving page, search for New Directions Housing Corp. (this is the exact wording of the listing) or search by zip code to see a map of all local charities in a particular area. When you click on the info link for an organization, you will be directed to a page with details about the agency and a button to vote for this agency. After placing your vote, you will be given a chance to search for additional organizations. You can also choose to notify your Facebook friends about your choice and ask them to vote as well.

Please take a few minutes to vote for New Directions Housing Corporation to keep us in the running for this amazing opportunity from our friends at JPMorgan Chase, and please spread the word to all of your friends and family members so that they can also support New Directions and other local charities of their choosing.



Joe Gliessner
Executive Director
New Directions Housing Corporation

A more direct link to New Directions Housing Corporation within the voting application is also available here.

Repair Affair 2007

Repair Affair mobilizes community-wide resources and volunteers to support the housing repair needs of elderly and disabled homeowners of low income throughout Kentuckiana.

The community development specialists at New Directions Housing Corporation are gearing up for their annual Repair Affair, a metro area volunteer effort to improve owner-occupied homes for the older and more challenged among us in Louisville and Southern Indiana. In the belief that increased homeownership capacity is an efficacious remedy to slumlordism, NAC will be doing its part and invites you to join us.

The houses have been chosen and the Southern Indiana work date set for Saturday, June 9.

Many volunteer teams have already committed to complete the needed maintenance and repair tasks but much work remains. Various support roles, such as food and materials runners, are still available.

As the statistics below indicate, Repair Affair provides a worthwhile opportunity to have direct impact on the community and many of the people who populate our neighborhoods.


2006 Repair Affair Impact Results

156 homes received repairs
94 in Louisville and 62 in Southern Indiana

1,421 volunteers
921 in Louisville and 500 in Southern Indiana

Completed repairs include:
Total Roofs
Minor roof repair
Wheelchair ramps
Hand rails & grab bars
Floor repair
Minor electrical
Minor plumbing
Door & window repair
Exterior paint
Interior paint


I'm currently confirming the details of the New Albany and Southern Indiana repair effort. Readers with an interest in volunteering at any level may contact me via the email address in my Blogger profile. A second Louisville work day will take place the following Saturday, June 16.