The city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods — which already see a disproportionate police presence — are now seeing police show up in tactical gear to raid vacant buildings even when nothing is wrong. Officers dressed in military-style fatigues, carrying riot shields and displaying weapons began using the vacant housing for training exercises a year ago, part […]
public housing
Posted inLocal Government
In their own words: Public housing residents speak out about Wichita’s plan to sell their homes
In January, the city announced plans to sell its 352 single-family public housing units. About half of those homes are vacant — a casualty of a five-year effort to rethink single-family public housing in Wichita and a lack of funding to keep them habitable. But the other half have tenants in them — with families, children, […]
Posted inLocal Government
Wichita joins other Midwestern cities in moving away from public housing
Public housing in Wichita is coming to an end. In late January, the Wichita Housing Authority announced plans to sell its 352 single-family public homes. And last September, the authority closed on a deal to convert its 226 other public housing units, which are apartments for seniors, into Section 8 housing. Section 8 units receive […]
Posted inLocal Government
Wichita’s latest plan for its single-family public housing units: Sell them all
The city of Wichita outlined a plan to rehabilitate most and sell all of its 352 single-family housing units on Tuesday. The plan would end the city’s public housing program. Most of the proceeds from the sales would go to the city’s new affordable housing fund, which aims to boost affordable housing development. The proceeds […]
Posted inLocal Government
Why dozens of Wichita public housing units are sitting vacant
Aujanae Bennett wants to see her Northeast Millair neighborhood flourish — children playing in the streets, clean lawns and driveways, pride in the community. But the 41 city-owned homes dominating the northwest corner of her neighborhood are an obstacle to that, Bennett said. Over the past four years, she’s noticed the homes have been vacated […]