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the community while providing certain flexibility in the use of CDBG-funded business
development assistance. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) assistance to
affordable housing development has traditionally benefited only low-income families. The
Southeast Community NRSA Plan has enabled NNRHA since 2001 to utilize single-family
lots acquired in the Southeast Community with CBDG funds to develop affordable homes
for a broader income range thereby promoting income diversity and the long-term vitality
of the area. Furthermore, the initial NRSA plan provides a framework to strengthen the
neighborhood’s economy through the continued improvement of the commercial and
retail corridors along Jefferson Avenue, Chestnut Avenue, and 39th Street. Such efforts
will continue under the revised and updated plan thereby enhancing retail services for
community residents while increasing employment opportunities.
This revised and updated NRSA Plan was developed in consultation with
community stakeholders and utilized relevant information from the following planning
documents:
Framework for the Future (The city of Newport News Comprehensive Plan)
Vision 2010 Plan for NNRHA Public Housing Communities (October 2000)
Southeast Community Corridor Redevelopment Plan (Amended December 1997)
This NRSA plan will serve as an element for the 2006-2010 Consolidated Plan for
Housing and community Development.
II. SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY NRSA: AN OVERVIEW
The Southeast Community is one of the oldest sections of Newport News and
represents a uniquely urban environment comprised largely of rectangular blocks
measuring 200 feet by 800 feet with small corner markets interspersed throughout the
residential areas. The neighborhood is densely developed with frame dwellings on 25 by
100-foot lots originally platted between World War I and World War II. The housing was
constructed to support the expansion of nearby Newport News Shipbuilding during and
after World War I. The majority of single-family housing south of 30th Street was
constructed prior to the 1930s while the majority of the single-family housing north of 30th
Street was constructed between 1930 and 1950.
The Jefferson Park Community is located north of 39th Street and shares block
configurations similar to the rest of the target area. Although 25 foot wide lots were
permitted, many of the homes were developed on larger lots, usually 50’ x 100’ with
driveways. Many residents who settled in Jefferson Park were former residents of
Mulberry Island, which was purchased by the federal government in 1918 as the site of
Fort Eustis. Descendants of the original Mulberry Island families that settled the
neighborhood continue to make their homes in Jefferson Park.
Beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1970s, the Southeast Community
experienced an exodus of middle-income families similar to that of other older urbanized
communities throughout the United States. The economic and racial diversity whichJump to an indexed page (228 of 228)