Nov 29, 2017

Only The Best For Public Housing

For an Allentown historian with an interest in photography, the photo above is as good as it gets; Eleanor Roosevelt visiting Allentown's new public housing project in 1942, Hanover Acres. I snatched the photo off The Morning Call this morning; Paul Carpenter has a column where he brooded about public housing recipients complaining that they can't smoke, while living on our dime. I'll do him one better. They're now griping about it in new housing, Overlook Park. Hanover Acres and the newer project, Riverview Terrace, were both torn down several years ago to construct new townhouses. It's supposedly a mixed income project, with homes both for sale, and Section 8 rentals.
Over the years Hanover Acres became a "terrible" place to live, a crime-ridden eyesore. Overlook Park, the $88 million development that's sprung up in its place, however, is "beautiful." Daniel R. Farrell, executive director of the Allentown Housing Authority, described turning Hanover Acres into Overlook Park as "an amazing transformation."The development features 269 rental apartments and room for 53 single-family homes.
It was built by Pennrose Properties, which specializes in politically correct and politically connected housing for profit. They have done well in Allentown with Mayor Ed. Not long before Hanover and Riverview were demolished, they were completely remodeled, with high end kitchen cabinets and counters. Shown below is yours truly, in Little Lehigh Manor, built in 1944. Those brick houses of the same vintage are still new enough for home buyers today. Most of Allentown's existing row houses were built between 1895 and 1930. If Carpenter is upset about smoking, he should drive over to Overlook Park and see what they're smoking in.














reprinted from July of 2012

3 comments:

  1. Thank former mayor Joseph Dadonna for the proliferation of public housing in the city [i.e. Lawrence Court, Cumberland Gardens, and the transformative Hanover Acres and Riverview Terrace]. For him, federal money was more important than the quality of life in Allentown. This started the deluge and influx of outsiders who where paid to settle here and hypothetically run this town today. After all, they carried an indicted mayor to reelection and have migrated into the city bringing their urban decay.

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  2. I'm really tired of the Dadonna Trials. Our city did best under Joe. The haters continue this lie year after year. If this was true, where did the influx of every other city come from?? Mayors use federal programs to get monies for cities. Think about it?? How did 'they' come to Bethlehem or Easton??

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  3. valerie@9:02, you're absolutely correct, this is a myth about daddona. York and Reading were equally affected by the demographic changes. furthermore, the public housing predated daddona by decades.

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