These are different times in Boston Chinatown. The pressures of gentrification and high rise development have pushed out many seniors and low income residents from the neighborhood. But the redevelopment of the old Hong Lok House gives people a splinter of hope.
Phase one will be completed next week, adding 32 units of badly needed affordable housing to Chinatown, reports the Boston Globe. When phase two is completed in spring 2014, another 42 units will be added to the 35 million dollar projects. Units are going for $500 a month. By the time the project opens, there will be a 3 to 5 year waiting list.
“I don’t even want to think about it,” Ruth Moy, executive director of the Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center, said when asked about the demand. “We have a very long waiting list of people who want to stay in this neighborhood. But how long can they wait for affordable housing?”
Funding for the project was pieced together from nearly a dozen different sources. That’s because money from the community block grant fund and Housing and Urban Development have been slashed 40-50 percent.