Choice Atlanta

VISION

A vibrant, amenity- and resource-rich Westside Atlanta.

Choice Atlanta is a local model of HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program. An Atlanta Housing initiative supported by a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant, Choice Atlanta leverages public and private dollars from Atlanta Housing, the City of Atlanta, Invest Atlanta and other public, private and philanthropic organizations to address under-resourced neighborhoods with distressed public or HUD-assisted housing.  Through a strategic approach to neighborhood transformation, local leaders, residents, and stakeholders united to create and implement a plan that catalyzes critical improvements to vacant property, housing, businesses, services and schools. Efforts of improvement for Choice Atlanta target the former University Homes and Ashview Heights, Atlanta University Center and Vine City, collectively known as University Choice Neighborhoods (UCN).

MISSION

Restore and preserve the vibrancy of this historic in-town area by making quality of life improvements and creating neighborhood serving amenities to the benefit of community residents.

Located just west of Atlanta’s central business district, the UCN was home to many great African American leaders who played a pivotal role in the national struggle for desegregation and equal opportunity.  It is also home to a cluster of prestigious Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Known as the “cradle of the civil rights movement” and once a thriving center for African American commerce and intellectual discourse, the UCN has suffered from decades of disinvestment, blight, suburban flight, and socio-economic decline.

With the sponsorship of the 2010 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant, AH, City of Atlanta and a host of organizations and residents collaborated to develop a Neighborhood Transformation Plan, outlining the vision to redevelop University Homes and to create a vibrant and thriving UCN rooted in the unique history of the civil rights movement and the movement’s goal of social and economic equality.  

The $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant awarded to AH and the City catalyzes three core goals: Housing, People and Neighborhood, with a focused mission and vision.