Urban homesteading discussed for West Side
“State and local officials think selling homes on Charleston’s West Side for one dollar — with strings attached — or other housing initiatives could create opportunities for improvement and stability in the oft-beleaguered neighborhood.
“We’ve got to do something a little creative,” said Delegate Clif Moore, D-McDowell.
The vacant or crumbling structures on the West Side breed problems, local reverend and social activist Matthew Watts told a legislative committee Monday.
The structures — he put their number in the hundreds — offer a place for illicit activity, drive down the value of other homes in the area and discourage outsiders from moving into the neighborhood.
“All people on the West Side want is more safe, affordable housing,” Watts said, after presenting information to the Select Committee on Minority Issues.
“There is a market for that.”
Creating the supply for that demand is more of a challenge.
The state recently has provided $1.2 million to help with revitalizing lots and building housing for low-income residents, and the local housing authority recently completed its own revitalization of public housing units in the area, but Watts and Moore said more funding is always needed.”
Boucher, Dave. THe Daily Mail 16 June 2014.