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Proposed Public Housing Renovations Affected by I-81 Proposed Public Housing Renovations Affected by I-81

The renovation of over 1,000 public housing units hinges on the I-81 debate

By Eric Moon

225 Elizabeth St.
© 2019 Eric Moon

Eric Moon: The city of Syracuse, the Syracuse Housing Authority and the Allyn Foundation are planning a 27 block renovation of the city’s public housing. However, many of the sixty to eighty year old homes are located right next to I-81. Allyn Foundation Executive Director Meg O’Connell says the project can’t begin until I-81 is complete.

Meg O’Connell: There’s some things we can start on, specifically McKinney Manor and Central Village. But what’s going to happen with Pioneer Homes is very much aligned, kind of, with the timetable for I-81.

Eric Moon: Even after a decision is made, Housing Authority Executive Director Bill Simmons says there’s more work to be done before renovation.

Bill Simmons: They have to do environmental impact studies that include, you know, impact on the neighborhood. There is an environmental justice component. So you have to look at all of those things once the D-O-T makes a final decision.

Eric Moon: Eleven hundred homes will be demolished during renovation. The people who live there will get a voucher to move elsewhere. O’Connell did not say how much the voucher is worth. I’m Eric Moon, N-C-C News.

SYRACUSE, NY – The City of Syracuse, the Syracuse Housing Authority, and the Allyn Foundation are leading a joint effort to renovate approximately 1,100 blocks of public housing in downtown Syracuse. However, though the group is currently in the planning process, many of the homes are located next to I-81. That means before renovations can begin, I-81 must be complete.

The homes were originally built more than eighty years ago. They were largely separated from other parts of the city such as Syracuse University and downtown Syracuse by the original construction of I-81 in the late 1950s. Syracuse Housing Authority Executive Director Bill Simmons said the Housing Authority has been planning the project for more than five years.

“We’re talking about having mixed income housing in this neighborhood,” said Simmons. “The additional element of looking at the perfect built model happened over the last two years.”

Syracuse is one of the top 10 cities with the highest poverty rates in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The crime rate is twice as high as the Onondaga County crime rate in proposed area of renovation.

The renovation is designed to incorporate people living with public assistance in the same units as people who pay market rates. The new neighborhood is being planned with Purpose Built Communities, according to Allyn Foundation Executive Director Meg O’Connell. O’Connell said the design takes a holistic approach.

“We would like to build a YMCA,” said O’Connell. “We would like to build an Early Learning Center. All of those types of things.”

The I-81 issue, meanwhile, has been debated in Syracuse over the course of the last 10 years. The Syracuse Housing Authority supports the community grid option, according to Simmons. If the grid is chosen, I-81 would be transformed from a bridge going through the city into a road more entwined within the Syracuse community.

State officials said back in November a decision would be made early this year. O’Connell said the decision directly affects the proposed renovations.

”There are some things we can start on, specifically McKinney Manor and Central Village,” said O’Connell. “But what’s going to happen with Pioneer Homes is very much aligned with the timetable for I-81.”

Once housing renovations begin, O’Connell estimates it will be completed in eight to 10 years. Displaced people will get a voucher to relocate elsewhere but O’Connell did not say how much the voucher is worth.

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