Change is on its way as New Haven’s housing authority, known as Elm City Communities, is overhauling the crime-ridden complex.
Brenda Harris has lived at the Farnam Court apartments on Grand Ave. for 53 years.
"They’re very old and we really, really need a change, those apartments are done," Harris said.
As part of the Farnam Redevelopment, 57 new affordable homes are being built in Fair Haven.
City officials held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday for units that qualify for the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program.
"There is no substitute for a place to call home, a warm, dry place to sleep and eat and be with loved ones," Mayor Toni Harp (D) said.
The 25 houses going up in the dirt lot next to Fair Haven’s Eastview Terrace will look like the neighboring town-style homes.
"By giving people a unit where they have a front door and a back door, they feel like that’s their place as opposed to just a larger building," Elm City Communities Executive Director Karen DuBois-Walton said.
New affordable housing developments are being designed with safety in mind, DuBois-Walton said.
"We build them with the informed knowledge of the police department and security consultants on ways of laying out the properties so there aren’t hidden areas or places where police can’t see," she said.
Dubois-Walton said they hope to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony welcoming families to their new homes next November when construction at Eastview Terrace is complete.
