The story about housing in Memphis ‘has not been a positive one’
Mayor Paul Young (middle) speaks during a press conference announcing the demolition of the long-vacant Somerset Apartments in Oakhaven on May 21. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
The housing market in Memphis has changed dramatically in recent years, according to a coalition taking on the city’s shortage of quality affordable housing.
That coalition hopes to jump-start the development of both rented and owned homes using parcels in the Shelby County Land Bank under a shift to a homestead program run by the Memphis-Shelby County Division of Planning and Development.
Called the Building Home Program, it’s outlined in a joint city-county ordinance currently making its way through the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Board of Commissioners. Final votes are scheduled for June.
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Paul Young Carlissa Shaw Shirley Bondon Rasheedah Jones Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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