Housing Works - Thanks to Legal Aid

By Gregg Lombardi, Executive Director

Word on the street is that The Kansas City Star will be running an editorial this Sunday about the improvements that Kansas City has made in public housing largely as a result of the Tinsley v. Kemp litigation that was brought by Legal Aid in the early 1990’s. In that case, the court put the Housing Authority into receivership and ordered it to make public housing safe, clean and liveable.

The receivership continues on to this day, and the results have been dramatic. When the lawsuit was filed the condition of public housing in Kansas City was abysmal. More than half of the public housing units in Kansas City were unoccupied, many of the remaining units were rat infested and generally in very poor condition; and crime was rampant. Today, Kansas City has some of the best public housing stock in the country. The units are, for the most part attractive, livable and well maintained. The occupancy rate is 97% and the crime rate is down dramatically.

Check out The Star on Sunday for more. And have a great Memorial Day weekend.