Marco Teórico

Attributing Holly Park’s transformation to

“internal alignment” would seem to un- dermine the highly intuitive and individu- alized nature of this important community change effort. But the journey from the most distressed property in the Seattle Housing Authority’s portfolio to a shining national example of mixed-income devel- opment truly does represent a textbook case of successful community transfor- mation through internal alignment—or, as Auspos explains, of “the various pieces of the work fit[ting] together, and keep[ing] the whole effort moving forward.”

Today, the Pacific Northwest has a total of seven HOPE VI communities, from Seattle and King County to Tacoma and Portland. All embraced the model of shared vision and values, sustainable de- sign, and successful public-private part- nerships in neighborhood transforma- tion. Some of these communities feature new neighborhood schools; others boast libraries, access to light rail, supermar- kets, and thriving local businesses. All have formed positive relationships with new homeowners and built an enduring network of community partners, service providers, and the housing authorities that sponsored and implemented the transformation.

In 1994, however, Holly Park—a com- plex created for World War II defense workers—was an anomaly in Seattle’s otherwise seamless neighborhood fabric, a distressed community in a highly func- tional city. Located on 125 acres within 20 minutes of downtown, Holly Park was home to 875 households, 90 percent of whom were minorities. (In comparison, minorities made up just 17 percent of Se-

attle’s population at that time.) Residents included African and Asian refugee fami- lies, African Americans, and a small num- ber of whites. The community also had the city’s highest homicide rates and low- est household incomes. More than half of Holly Park’s residents were children under the age of 18.

The vision to transform Holly Park came from then-Mayor Norman Rice, the first African American elected to the city’s highest office. Mayor Rice’s vision was at once simple and ambitious: Turn Se- attle into a city of thriving urban villages, where families of diverse ethnicity and incomes live in safe, walkable neighbor- hoods anchored by high-quality integrat- ed schools, community centers, libraries, and small businesses, with access to open space and mass transit.

That vision took root when then- HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, a former mayor himself, launched the HOPE VI program as a bold experiment to change the face of public housing around the country as well as the experience of its residents. Seattle applied for one of the first HOPE VI planning grants and was awarded $500,000 to come up with a vi- sion and implementation strategy to re- develop Holly Park.

Comprehensive community plan- ning was an unknown concept to most Holly Park residents, who spoke a total of 16 different languages. Fear of crime in their new community, coupled with vivid memories of war, forced many refugee families to remain locked in their own homes. Asian and East African young men grouped together in response to pressure from local gangs. Residents and busi- nesses in the surrounding neighborhoods shunned the public housing residents and called for their removal.

The housing authority’s decision to apply for a planning grant gave Holly Park residents an opportunity to help rebuild their community. The organizing princi- ples involved in master planning provided a framework for resident participation in visioning exercises and productive dia- logue (headsets akin to those used at Unit- ed Nations meetings eliminated language barriers). The process enabled residents to gain a voice, make choices, and even- tually negotiate residents’ right to return and new community rules with the hous- ing authority. Residents and businesses in the surrounding community also were invited to participate in the planning pro- cess, and they did.

By the time the housing authority se- cured its HOPE VI implementation grant, the city of Seattle had established an in- teragency task force, coordinated by one single point of contact, to align resources and neighborhood priorities within the city and with the housing authority. This team worked with design professionals, consultants, neighborhood representa- tives, Holly Park residents, city council staff, legal advocates, affordable housing developers, and service providers. To- gether they planned, debated, negotiated, and reached decisions at each step of the development process.

Between the initial planning and the grand opening of the first home in “NewHolly,” close to six years had passed. It would take another eight years to complete the transformation of Holly Park as residents, the city, and neighbor- ing communities had envisioned it. By the time the last home was built and oc- cupied, three more public housing rede- velopments would be funded and come to fruition across Seattle. All would fol- low the guiding vision and paths blazed

by the Holly Park residents and anchored by a lasting partnership between the city, housing authority, service providers, and nonprofit community development organizations.

Clearly, time and trust proved essen- tial to the positive outcome at Holly Park. Yet, at the core of this and similar success stories are the residents. Many still live in the community today and remain active in Southeast Seattle’s various block clubs, PTAs, and civic associations (which re- placed the former public housing resident council). Since its grand opening in 1999, the NewHolly public library has doubled its collection of books, magazines, and CDs while greatly expanding residents’ access to computers. It remains one of Se- attle’s most highly subscribed neighbor- hood libraries—a measure of success that some might have dismissed as unlikely or inconceivable before despair and discord gave way to internal alignment.