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COPYRIGHT 2001 The Dallas Morning News
Byline: Steven H. Lee
Mar. 27--SAN ANTONIO, Texas--When Henry Cisneros left politics -- this time for good, he said -- he wanted to enter a private enterprise that would resemble public service without the endless campaigns and fund raising.
In home building, he said, he's found it. Last month, the former Alamo City mayor opened his Lago Vista housing development and sold all 52 lots in its first phase in one weekend.
The private venture, which partners Mr. Cisneros with the nation's largest home builder, will develop as many as 600 midpriced homes on San Antonio's low-income and neglected south side, the first new-housing development in this neighborhood in decades.
"If I were still mayor, I would see this as a breakthrough because homes, consumers and markets need to converge if the ambition of public officials for economic revitalization is to occur," said Mr. Cisneros, lounging in the spacious living area of his favorite model home.
Whether Mr. Cisneros' vision will actually be fulfilled here is something even he can't answer.
Nationwide, gentrification of such disadvantaged neighborhoods has met with mixed results.
New middle-class or affluent homes have either lifted inner cities or displaced low- and moderate-income residents who no longer can afford to live there.
Lago Vista's colorful houses priced from the high $70,000s to the mid-$120,000s will stand in sharp contrast to surrounding neighborhoods with modest $40,000 and $50,000 homes dating back 30 years or more.
"There's certainly a potential that it could help rejuvenate the south side, but it's not without risk," said Keith Phillips, an economist with the San...
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