Bowen Choice Neighborhood

Atlanta Housing and Longline Development invite you to participate, share your thoughts, and help develop concepts for a creative play and outdoor gathering space in Watkins Park. Come to meet—and come to play—with the creative teams from Living Playgrounds and PlayLark.

There will be activities for kids and adults, refreshments, and an Easter egg hunt.

Come play with us. Help us design a fun, new outdoor space. No artistic skills are required.

Calling all Small Businesses located within the Bowen Choice Planning Area…have you been negatively affected by COVID-19 and need help to rise up, recover and thrive once again? The Resurgence Grant Fund is available to eligible businesses.

Click on the following link to obtain additional information:

https://www.investatlanta.com/businesses/small-businesses/resurgence-grant-fund

Thank you to everyone who attended the Community Open House on Tuesday, March 22, at the John Lewis Invictus Academy! We appreciate your continued support and ideas as we plan for the future of the Bowen Choice Neighborhood.

For those who were not able to make it in person, the 20-minute video that was shown at the meeting is available below. We encourage to you take a moment to watch, and provide your thoughts by taking this survey after watching.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Community Open House on Tuesday, March 22, at the John Lewis Invictus Academy! We appreciate your continued support and ideas as we plan for the future of the Bowen Choice Neighborhood.

For those who were not able to make it in person, the 20-minute video that was shown at the meeting is available below. We encourage to you take a moment to watch, and provide your thoughts by taking this survey after watching.

We would love it if you could also join us at the follow-up Zoom meeting this Thursday, March 24, at 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM. Zoom credentials are located below the video. We will be available to answer any questions you may have about Bowen, and the Bowen Choice Neighborhood initiative.

Zoom Public Open House

Join us for an in-person public open house on Tuesday, March 22, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at John Lewis Invictus Academy at 1890 D.L. Hollowell Parkway. This is an open house format, so drop-in whenever you have time that evening. Every hour, we will play a brief video providing a project update and afterwards, be available to talk about the project and answer any questions you may have. We will also have a short survey about housing and development, streets, parks and public art; and will be there to guide you through the survey and activities.

How will your input be used?

Atlanta Housing is writing and releasing a NEW request for proposals (RFP) for developers. This RFP, to be released in April, will include all of the design work we have finished to-date using all the community input we have heard since early 2021 and input we gather from you at this meeting. All the collected information will help us finalize the Bowen site plan that will be included in the RFP.

Can't make the in-person meeting?

We will post the video of the project updates on this website after the Open House, and make the same survey questions available here as well. Lastly, we will host a Zoom public open house a few days after the in-person Open House on March 22. We will post the date, time, and registration link here, so check back for more details.

In person, or via Zoom, we hope to see you there!

Questions? Email us at bowenchoiceneighborhood@atlantahousing.org or call us at (404) 685-4959. We look forward to hearing from you.

HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program requires grantees under a Planning Grant to submit a Transformation Plan that lays out the plan for the revitalization of the subject area. This Plan will have been drafted after much consultation and planning with the former residents of the target public housing site, and the surrounding neighborhoods. Once approved by HUD, the Transformation Plan becomes the basis for applying for funding to implement the Plan, either through HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant funding, or other agencies or organizations that have funding availabilities that can fund sections of the plan.

To make sure grantees are on track, the Transformation Plan is submitted to HUD at various times for their feedback to confirm that we are in alignment with the Choice Neighborhoods program goals of Housing, People and Neighborhood.

The first submission of the Transformation Plan was in December 2021, called “Outline with Content” and is now available for review in the document library. This outline includes placeholders and some draft text for all of the content that will be in the final Plan, summaries of the input we've received and will continue to receive in support of the program goals.

We will use this as a guide throughout the next 10 months as we refine the final Bowen Choice Neighborhood Transformation Plan. The next draft due to HUD is June 16,2022, with the final submission in December 2022. Input from the former residents, residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, and community stakeholders is a critical component, so we invite you to take a look, and let us know what you think by emailing us at bowenchoiceneighborhood@atlantahousing.org.

Thank you to all the community members who dedicated their time to attend our open houses during the Bowen Choice Neighborhood Community Workshop! A special thank you to Dr. Carson and the staff at Springfield Missionary Baptist Church, who graciously hosted our 3-day event.

Originally envisioned as an in-person and interactive event, we adjusted the workshop to a hybrid virtual and in-person event due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in early January. Two open houses were offered online via Zoom and in-person to allow community members to see and provide input on progress made during the design sessions. Design work throughout the workshop focused on the Bowen site, Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and James Jackson Parkway. We heard great ideas regarding community needs such as grocery stores, resource centers, and a mix of housing types that allows for deep affordability. Access to parks, better transit and walkability were also a high priority for participants.

Open House #1 provided an overview of the engagement and analysis results over the last year, as well as the results of the first day of the workshop. The design team and Atlanta Housing presented an overall site design for the Bowen site, block designs showing different arrangements of housing types and options, and an approach to parks and storm water management that provides beautiful and usable green spaces throughout the site.

Open House #2 included a robust description of the Choice Neighborhood program, Atlanta Housing’s intent to apply for a Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant, how to get involved in ongoing engagement efforts, and the final results of the workshop.

Major outcomes of the workshop included a refined, overall design for the Bowen site with a mix of housing options, retail, and community-serving institutions. Expanded usable green spaces and parks that also serve storm water management; multiple concept designs for Donald Lee Hollowell and James Jackson Parkways to make them safer streets; and ideas for trails and environmental remediation throughout the Choice Neighborhood.

Replays of the design workshop are available through the hyperlinks above. Links to the slideshow and additional graphics from the open houses can be found in the document library.

We are excited to continue the design work and collaborate with community members and former residents. If you’d like to be involved in the next year of engagement you can do so by joining a focus group, the Resident Advisory Committee, and / or join the Doing While Planning group. Email us at bowenchoiceneighborhood@atlantahousing.org for more information.

Join us in the next phase of planning the former Bowen Homes site and lend your ideas for transforming the neighborhood. We are hosting a multi- day workshop in with many opportunities for your feedback! We'll kick it off with a "Good Urbanism" seminar, hosted by the Georgia Conservancy, to provide educational information about high-quality development and examples in Atlanta. Next, we'll have a three-day design event, where you are welcome to stop in and offer your ideas as we're designing in "real time" and attend the Public Open Houses to see the results of the design work. We can't wait to hear from you!

Here are the event details:

Location: Zoom & Springfield Missionary Baptist Church at 1730 Hollywood Road, Atlanta, GA 30318

To register via Zoom click the meeting title listed below and enter your information. You will be sent a link to the meeting 24 hours before its start time. You can also find the link to each meeting under Key Dates

• Saturday, January 15 @ 10:00 AM: "Good Urbanism" seminar hosted by Georgia Conservancy.
• Thursday, January 20 @ 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Public Open House We'll show the results from the first day of work, and you can let us know how we're doing. *
• Saturday, January 22 @ 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Public Open House We'll show the final results from the three days of work. You can tell us if we're on the right track, and we'll make revisions afterward. *

* = Public Open House will be hosted both in-person at the address above and online through Zoom. Mask are required for entry onsite.

We'll also have other ways to provide feedback, including surveys, providing your input on upcoming "Doing While Planning" projects, and sign-ups for a spring 2022 storytelling project. Stay tuned for more details!

Thank you to the residents who attended our Return to Community event on October 23, 2021, at the former John Carey School. We had a great time on a beautiful Saturday talking about your ideas for the future, your memories of the past, and learning more about the community. We heard a lot of great ideas, and if you'd like to review the boards we had on display, head over to our Document Library in the right sidebar of the Bowen Choice Neighborhood homepage.

The Bowen Choice Neighborhoods Return to Community event, held at the former John Carey Elementary School, was an invitation to former Bowen Homes residents and members of the community to learn more about and collaborate on the Transformation Plan being drafted for the revitalization of the former Bowen Homes site, Carey Park neighborhood and a portion of the Donald Lee Hollowell business corridor.

Attendees were asked to complete a needs assessment survey to capture their priorities for the neighborhood, such as walkability, access to recreational and medical facilities, and entertainment options. In addition to the survey, the community was invited to vote on implementing smaller initiatives, such as the upcoming Fire Station #38 improvements.

Other featured activities included easy-to-follow exercises presented by CrossFit Midtown, a petting zoo hosted by CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials), and yoga painting led by a former Bowen Homes resident. Also, attendees received fresh local produce delivered through Concrete Jungle and handcrafted sandwiches catered by metro-Atlanta catering company, 2 Pieces of Toast.

The festivities kicked off with a few words from District 9 Councilmember Dustin Hillis, who is a partner with Atlanta Housing on the Bowen Choice initiative. The festivities were followed by a brief speech given by Councilmember Matt Westmoreland, who recognized AH for the "transformative work of the Choice Neighborhood Program on Ashely Scholar's Landing."

Fresh produce provided by Concrete Jungle

Next, NPU-G Chair Ola Reynolds took to the mic to make a call to action. "I want Bowen to be better than West Highlands," she said, referring to the nearby redevelopment under a HOPE VI grant awarded to AH. She also took time to remind attendees of the impact of their input, “Change is here, and change is going to continue. So, we either get with it, or we're going to be left behind. But everyone has a voice, so put your input in."

AH’s COO, Terri Lee, followed Ms. Reynolds, praising the AH team for its work on the University Homes Choice Neighborhood initiative, asserting confidence in the lessons learned from the project that would contribute to the betterment of the Bowen Choice Neighborhood initiative. She concluded her speech with a clear message to residents, partners, and the AH staff:

"It's not just about the housing; it's about people, neighborhoods, and building holistic communities and systems."

Closing remarks were given by AH’s Deputy Chief Real Estate Officer for Planning and Development, Trish O'Connell, who is currently leading the Bowen Choice initiative, echoing her peers in their praise for the AH team, partners, and participants for their contributions to the enterprise. "I'm grateful to be working with a team that gets the job done, and I'm excited for what's to come."Petting Zoo hosted by CHaRM