Talk of the Town - Giving gentrification a good name November 28 2001

Progress welcomed in Washington Park, Hunter Hills



“Look at these houses!” says Melenese Ford, eager to point out the integrity and history of the homes in her Hunter Hills neighborhood. “Try and get homes like these in Grant Park. And with this view!”

Ford’s enthusiasm for the area west of West End, in the shadow of downtown’s skyscrapers, is infectious. The quiet bungalows, two-story brick estates and wooden ranches lining the wide, clean streets have nestled here for the past 50 years or so and are ripe for the next wave of urban pioneers.

Ford bought her home six years ago for $34,000. Its recent appraisal at $143,000 proved to her that she made a good choice.

“When I first decided to move here, people were telling me that I was way out in the ‘hood,” says Ford. “Now I know people who wish they could have this type of equity. They don’t think I’m so crazy.”

Ford cruises the streets of three close-knit neighborhoods — Washington Park, Mozley Park and Hunter Hills — and talks about their history and their future. The three areas were originally communities for affluent post-World War II African-American families. Now the run-down homes are seeing the beginnings of a new life as gentrification touches the streets.

“I welcome the white residents, the gay residents,” explains Ford. “They’re what is going to make this neighborhood better.”

Tony Griffin hopes for the same thing. He bought a new home in the West Savannah development in Washington Park. In the past seven months he’s already seen his property increase in value and a second development with 22 homes is planned a block away.

Karen Hutchison echoes the story. She found a house in Hunter Hills so she could be close to work at her Cartoon Network offices. “This is so different than I thought at first,” says Hutchison. “I’m an Atlanta native and I never heard of this neighborhood. The social infrastructure is great. The community is rebuilding parks, encouraging gentrification and really supportive of improvements in the area. I feel so at home.”

With all the changes and growth coming to the area, Ford doesn’t forget the longtime residents who for years have called the city blocks home. Her next-door neighbor Cassie Releford, who’s 92, has lived in her house for 53 years. She moved to Washington Park when she was 5 years old. She saw the first black high school, Washington High, open, the first black hospital welcome patients and African-Americans shape a life for themselves along the streets of the neighborhood.

“Anything happened on this street, and I was there,” Releford remembers proudly. “The whole street was concerned about one another.”

Releford relates a story about how Ford and her husband woke her up recently at 5:30 a.m. concerned about her safety. They had seen her motion lights flicking on-and-off and couldn’t reach her by phone. Releford wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about.

“Then I told my sister and she reminded me, this type of thing doesn’t happen on every street,” explains Releford. “I have the best possible neighbors.”??