25 years ago, the conversion of 1950's era public housing into a mixed-income community on Columbia Point in Boston provided the template for the federal government's Hope VI program. How has this seminal project withstood the test of time?
"The model for the Hope VI program was a pioneering housing experiment in Boston called Harbor Point, the nation’s first attempt to transform a large dysfunctional federal public housing project into a mixed-income planned community," writes Witold Rybczynski, who details the developer, design, and management decisions that have rendered the conversion an enduring success.
"So, what did it take to make Harbor Point a success? A visionary and committed developer + a responsive architect + the active participation of low-income residents + an experienced property management team. Not a simple formula. But to paraphrase Winston Churchill: It could be said that Harbor Point is the least likely model for public housing, except for all the others that have been tried."
FULL STORY: Radical Revival
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