The muted complexes and concrete towers that paint the image of America’s public housing tell a deeper story. It’s a story of segregation, of communities trying to survive along the margins, and of money and power shaping neighborhoods.

In Detroit — as in many places — it’s a layered story, one that involves neighborhoods like Black Bottom and Paradise Valley — majority Black middle-class communities that were razed in the late 1950s in the name of “urban renewal.” Many of the residents who were displaced were promised better housing in public projects, but those promises rarely came to fruition. 

But even in the most challenging times, many public housing residents have made the best of it, raising children, organizing neighbors, and demanding more. Now, a new museum in Chicago is illuminating those histories — not to romanticize them, but to confront them.

The National Public Housing Museum honors the people who made homes in a system stacked against them. It also asks: What should public housing in America look like today, and how can it be a place where people and families can thrive?

Lisa Yun Lee, executive director and chief curator at the museum, joined The Metro to help us answer these questions.

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City leaders joined with community members and stakeholders on Wednesday to celebrate the grand opening of a new affordable housing complex at the historic St. Matthew School on Detroit’s east side.

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Renamed The Residences at St. Matthew, the building had previously been vacant for almost a decade. Now the residence will offer 46 new affordable apartments with 36 one-bedroom, four two-bedroom and six studio units. Twenty-five of the units are reserved for permanent supportive housing for individuals who were unhoused. The rest of the units will serve folks making 30%-60% of the area median income.

The Residences at St. Matthew is part of the national Healthy Housing Initiative launched by Catholic Charities USA. The Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan, who spearheaded the renovation, will have the residence serve both affordable housing needs and health services delivered through a partnership with Henry Ford St. John Hospital.

“This redevelopment represents the heart of Catholic Charities’ mission — to create hope, foster dignity, and build community,” said Paul Propson, CEO of CCSEM, in a statement. “We are proud to honor the legacy of St. Matthew’s Parish by helping meet a critical need for affordable housing in Detroit.”

Other headlines for Friday, May 9, 2025:

• The My Mental Wellness clinic inside the Islamic Center of Detroit will host a mental health first aid training from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10.
• Southwest Detroit music venue El Club closed down Saturday due to what the general manager described as “police intimidation,” Detroit Metro Times reports.
• The late Detroit funk and soul ‘ambassador’ Amp Fiddler is being honored on May 16 with his own street — Amp Fiddler Ave. The city of Detroit, in collaboration with the Amp Fiddler Estate, will reveal the street sign on the corner of 7 mile Rd and Revere St.
  All are welcomed to attend.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Americans are struggling to find affordable places to live. With the cost of living, gas and groceries going up, Detroit it is no exception. According to a report from the Detroit Justice Center, Detroit is behind in supplying affordable homes to residents.

Still, this is an issue city leaders have tried to address. For the better part of a decade, officials have invested millions of dollars into affordable housing projects. But the city is still unable to keep up with demand. Those efforts have only multiplied in recent years.

Julia Cardi, an investigative reporter for The Detroit News, has been covering affordable housing in Detroit. She joined The Metro on Wednesday to talk about the city’s past investments and the work that’s happening now to bring more affordable housing to the city.

Also, MiSide Community Impact Network President Sean De Four joined the show to talk about Campbell Street Apartments — Southwest Detroit’s new $18 million affordable housing development — ahead of the project’s ribbon cutting.

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Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer continued to highlight road funding, housing, and innovation as three main priorities during a speech at the Grand Rapids Chamber Monday.

Whitmer has proposed a roads plan that involves putting all taxes on gas sales toward roads, and raising some new revenue from larger companies and the marijuana industry.

Meanwhile, a competing House Republican-led plan agrees on the gas tax front, though it would find additional money for roads by scaling back proposed using savings from scaling back business incentive programs, like one known as the SOAR Fund.

Whitmer said she’s open to ideas, but the state can’t afford to entirely cut programs meant to bring in business.

“Maybe it doesn’t look exactly like the SOAR going forward. Maybe they’ve got additional thoughts about ways that we could sharpen our toolkit. But what we can’t do is unilaterally drop all the tools and think that we’re going to be able to go toe to toe with states that are trying to steal companies that are already here,” Whitmer told reporters her speech.

Whitmer said talks are ongoing over whether Democrats should introduce bills for their competing vision, or if lawmakers need to get to a point where they have their own policy goals and negotiate from there using the House bills as a jumping–off point.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said it’s time for all sides to come together to hammer out details.

“We are eager to start serious negotiations about the budget and about the road funding concepts that are out there. The plans are great, but if they’re not bicameral — Not just bipartisan, but bicameral and bipartisan — it won’t succeed,” Brinks said.

Brinks said negotiations over roads need to happen side by side with budget discussions. She acknowledged the next state budget will likely be smaller than in recent years, while Whitmer also called for some belt-tightening during her speech. Much of that is due to fewer federal COVID-19 pandemic aid dollars being left.

As far as housing goes, Whitmer’s plan involves using a state agency to ensure more affordable housing units get built. She also wants lawmakers to fund a program that re-purposes former industrial sites for residential or commercial uses.

“I have told all the legislative leadership where we spend money, whether it’s in the budget or it’s elsewhere, it’s got to be negotiated with the budget. And so, it is my hope that we are able to secure additional longevity in the brownfield redevelopment funds,” she told reporters.

Whitmer said she’s not ready to say how much money she expects lawmakers to put into the Transformational Brownfield Plans program.

Monday’s speech was the fourth in a series of speeches her team is broadly referring to as the Road Ahead. Earlier talks include ones in Detroit given in January and earlier this month, and in Washington D.C.

Community members gathered with local leaders this week to celebrate the grand opening of Campbell Street Apartments, a new $18 million affordable housing development in Southwest Detroit’s East Chadsey-Condon neighborhood.

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The apartment complex is providing 40 units of affordable housing in its first phase of construction, with an additional 32 units planned in an adjacent complex.

Apartments are reserved for households earning 30% or less of the area median income. Also, due to project-based housing vouchers from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), the city says no resident will have to pay more than 30% of their income on rent.

The mixed use development will offer a range of 1-3 bedroom units. The additional 32 units, called Wesson Avenue Apartments, will be a four-story mixed-use building consisting of 45,000 square feet and is expected to open in about 19 months.

Other headlines for Friday, April 18, 2025:

• The Detroit Land Bank Authority announced the completion of more than 12,000 vacant home restorations in the past decade. 
  
• The Detroit Pistons return to the playoffs on Saturday in their first round match up against the New York Knicks.
• Qasim Basir, director of locally-produced “To Live and Die and Live,” told The Detroit News that the film will hold a local premiere event at Michigan Central Station on May 6, ahead of its arrival at AMC Theatres nationwide on May 16.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.