Holistic approach in revitalizing neighborhoods key to success

By Elizabeth Cook

ecook@salisburypost.com

When the transformation of Atlanta’s East Lake Meadows began in 1995, only 60 percent of its 650 public-housing apartments were livable.

The crime rate was 18 times the national average, only 13 percent of the residents were employed and 60 percent were on welfare.

The median income was less than $5,000. And children from poor beginnings were performing poorly in school.

After a holistic approach to neighborhood revitalization, East Lake has 542 apartment units, half public housing, half on the open market. The area is safer than the majority of neighborhoods in the city. Seventy percent of the adults are employed, with the rest elderly, disabled or enrolled in training courses. The median income is $15,830 among the assisted households, and the new school is one of the highest-performing schools in the city.

Greg Giornelli of Purpose Built Communities shared that success story Thursday at a Salisbury City Council luncheon.

“We’re not rocket scientists,” Giornelli said. “We’re not any smarter than anyone in this room.” But some common-sense principles drawn from the East Lake experience, followed year after year, are helping to transform struggling neighborhoods in several cities across the nation.

Giornelli invited local leaders to hear East Lake’s story “through the lens of Salisbury” as the city contemplates its own revitalization project in the West End.

There’s already a Salisbury connection. Salisbury native Julian Robertson is one of three philanthropists backing Purpose Built Communities. The others are Atlanta developer Tom Cousins and billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

The East Lake revitalization centered on the razing and replacement of a public housing project, but that was just the beginning. The change included a new charter school, a state-of-the-art YMCA and a public golf course.

That reflects Purpose Built Communities’ focus on three strategic areas of investment, Giornelli said: mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education and connecting health and wellness programs. And, underlying it all is a strong lead organization to act as quarterback.

“Somebody’s got to raise their hand and say, I’m Eli Manning ...,” Giornelli said.

In this case, it was East Lake Foundation, a separate, nonprofit, non-government outside group formed only to direct the transformation of the neighborhood.

All three areas of investment are equally critical, he said, but he likened the education component to a favorite child. Giornelli said his group tried unsuccessfully to partner with the public school system to transform the former Drew School. So East Lake became home to the first charter school in Atlanta — still a public school, but one with the freedom to operate independently. In student achievement, the school has gone from being 69th among the city’s 69 schools to fourth, he said. Its peers now are schools in high-end neighborhoods, and the achievement gap between white and black has been erased.

Salisbury is seeking for federal money to transform the West End community, which would include tearing down and rebuilding Civic Park Apartments. It also calls for more parks and playgrounds, better transportation, better lighting, job training, access to doctors and clinics, additional housing and new businesses.

The core planning team for the West End plan recently visited the old Duncan School, a historic landmark on West Monroe Street that once served as a black public school during segregation. Redeveloping the vacant building is considered an integral piece of the plan.