Van Zandt quoted about Galveston County’s
plans to rebuild 569 public housing units

Shannon Van Zandt, interim director for the Master of Urban Planning program at Texas A&M, told a newspaper that Galveston County must plan with caution as it considers where to rebuild 569 public housing units destroyed by Hurricane Ike.

The county could follow the latest trend in public housing, which calls for placing residents in a region instead of a concentrated area.

Plans must be crafted carefully so that public housing residents continue to get the same sort of support in their new communities that they received in their previous ones, Van Zandt, an assistant professor of urban planning, told the Galveston Daily News’ Rhiannon Meyers.

Transportation is also a key component — public housing agencies can’t move tenants without cars to areas where they can’t get rides to jobs, grocery stores and doctor’s appointments, Van Zandt said.

- Posted: Feb. 17, 2010-