New housing brings fresh start for some former Oakview residents - News - GoUpstate
Spartanburg native Tamela Lyles remembers the exact date she moved into unit No. 310 at Oakview Apartments in the city’s Northside neighborhood. It was Jan. 23, 2004, and she was 19 years old.
Lyles lived in the 800-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment with her three children. The family experienced good and bad times at Oakview, keeping mostly to themselves except for associating with some residents a few doors down, Lyles said.
Oakview's residents are gone now — the city began demolishing the units last week to make way for the new Dr. T.K. Gregg Community Center. While some former residents say the apartments provided a needed home, they also say moving has brought welcome changes and opened up a new life to them.
Built in the late 1940s and early 1950s along Howard Street, the federally subsidized, low-income apartments lacked central air conditioning and had tiled floors and cinder block walls. Over the years, many units developed mold and structural deficiencies. Some buildings had not been reroofed in more than 20 years.
Twelve years after moving in, the Lyles family left Oakview for a new townhome on Brawley Street in the Northside. Lyles’ smile spreads ear to ear when she talks about the place she now calls home.
“I do still think about my apartment at Oakview because that was my very first one,” Lyles said. “But this (townhome) is way better. When I saw it, I thought, please let me get in here.”
The family moved into the 1,300-square-foot, three-bedroom townhome Nov. 4, 2016. There is carpet in the living room, a bigger kitchen and enough bedrooms for the children.
One of her favorite rooms is the kitchen, with its large stove. Lyles likes to cook, and at Oakview, she said it took a long time to make meals on the small stove.
“Last year was my first Thanksgiving in this new kitchen and I had fun cooking,” she said.
Moving on
Oakview was condemned by the city of Spartanburg in January 2015. The city took control of the complex in December 2015 after winning its legal argument for possession.
At the time, 98 of the units were occupied. The residents were told they would need to relocate by the middle of December 2016.
The city, along with the Northside Development Group and Spartanburg Housing Authority, provided case managers to help all tenants, including Lyles, explore housing options and relocate.
All income-eligible tenants received Section 8 vouchers, and the city also provided eligible tenants with an additional $1,500 to cover utility and rental deposits.
Tammie Hoy Hawkins, project manager with the Northside Development Group, said 87 of the families found housing in the Spartanburg area, eight of them in the Northside. Seven families moved to areas such as Inman and Gaffney, and four families moved further outside Spartanburg, she said.
“Because the Housing Choice Voucher is so flexible, if I had family in Charlotte I could go there, or I could move to Charleston or wherever,” she said.
Oakview residents’ preferences ranged from public housing to apartment complexes to single-family homes. Some moved in with friends or family members, Hawkins said.
Lyles chose to stay in the Northside, near her mother and where her children go to school. She said one of her friends who lived at Oakview now lives on the south side of Spartanburg.
“At the end of the day, I think it just boiled down to what people wanted and where they wanted to move that would be a good fit,” Hawkins said.
Lifting the veil
Kesa Whitner, case manager for the Northside Development Group, has kept in touch with as many Oakview families as possible since their relocation, and consistently hears that they love their new housing. Whitner said she believes a lot of good came from tenants having to move out of Oakview.
“Some of them felt like Oakview was holding them down and they didn’t know there was more outside of Oakview,” she said. “It’s like the veil was lifted for them. It’s amazing to hear their stories and know that they’re doing well.”
Resident Anne Waters said she’s found a nicer home and a better life since moving out of Oakview.
Waters lived in apartment 340 with her 10-year-old son from February 2014 until August 2016. Her two-bedroom apartment was cramped, dark and had tiles falling from the ceiling, but she was happy to have a roof over their heads.
“We made the best of it, and my son and I had fun with all the children there,” Waters said. “But I was very fortunate that I didn’t have to live there for a long time.”
Waters and her son now live in a larger two-bedroom fourth-floor apartment at Lee’s Crossing in Spartanburg. The space has vaulted ceilings and modern conveniences such as air conditioning, and the complex has a laundry room and pool.
“It’s vastly different here and it’s a better neighborhood,” she said. “For the first couple of months I felt like I was on vacation. It’s so sunny and clean and it changes your mood and outlook.”
Waters also is closer to more affordable after-school programs for her son and has found a job after being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years.
“I think atmosphere has a lot to do with affecting people’s lives,” she said. “Oakview was just very dark.”
Jamaica Glover, another former Oakview resident, said while Oakview wasn’t the best of places, it essentially saved her and motivated her to do better for her kids.
A native of Greenville, Glover said she moved from house to house after coming to Spartanburg. She and two of her four children stayed in apartment 207 at Oakview for about six months before having to relocate.
Glover now lives in a four-bedroom townhome in Travelers Rest where she has enough room for all of her children, ages 1-15, to live with her.
“It’s gorgeous here. I have a washer and dryer and I don’t have to go to the laundromat and that’s important. My kitchen is bigger, too,” she said. “I like the community and the staff members here.”
Other parts of Glover’s life have seen positive changes, too. She was recently promoted to manager at her job and also got engaged.
“Nice things have happened for me,” she said.
Looking to the future
Hawkins said the Northside Development Group will continue to stay in contact with former Oakview tenants to check if there’s anything they need help with.
“We plan to keep in touch with everyone as long as possible because they will have the first right to return to the Northside once we build more affordable housing units, which is our goal,” Hawkins said.
This new housing includes seven more townhomes on Brawley Street and plans for a 100-plus-unit mixed-income housing complex near College and Howard streets. Hawkins said the future complex will be developed by Spartanburg Housing Partnerships and involve a collaboration with the Northside Development Group, the city and the Housing Authority.
“That’s where we would have a significant number of units that we could hopefully by 2018 let people know are available,” she said. “We really want it to be mixed-income so that we can not only have units that former Oakview residents can return to, but also apartments that would be affordable to VCOM students.”
And what about the new Dr. T.K. Gregg Community Center planned for the Oakview site?
“I think it’s a fabulous idea and I think it’s time that something good on Howard Street happened,” Waters said. “I think this is a long time coming and think it will be a huge asset for the community there.”
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