By Ken Alltucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ENGLISH WOODS - The federal government has rejected Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority's plan to raze the English Woods housing project and build single-family homes atop the prime western Cincinnati land.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's ruling ends a year-long battle between the housing authority and a coalition of public housing tenants and people living in surrounding communities.

The coalition feared more poverty, crime and blight would spill into middle-class neighborhoods.

HUD's decision follows months of pressure from residents, city politicians and U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio.

Sparing the 700-unit, World War II-era complex is a "victory for the people," said John Cranley, Cincinnati City Council's foremost critic of the plan.

CMHA Director Donald Troendle, who learned of HUD's decision on Friday, said it does little to help Cincinnati's low-income residents.

He said the complex is riddled with problems such as failing water systems, malfunctioning heating and cooling systems and unstable hillside ground. He said the housing authority will continue to steer residents to safer units.

Residents with financial means are moving out of the complex. Others are requesting transfers to alternate housing authority properties, according to Troendle.

The result is a vacancy rate that has shot above 60 percent with only 287 of 700 units occupied. And the housing authority has no intention to overhaul empty units, Troendle said, because it doesn't have the money to complete the job.

"We will not pursue a renovation project," Troendle said. "We don't have the financial resources."