Salishan is a story of success.

Today, I gathered with a diverse crowd to celebrate the strength of this community. Not only do residents find affordable housing, but access to healthcare, education and parks. It is also a great model for walk able, livable communities.

Salishan is the largest residential redevelopment in the history of the City of Tacoma. This redevelopment started with 855 old, worn out, and unsightly public housing units built on 188 acres during World War II to house war workers and their families. Unfortunately, over the years, Salishan evolved into an area of gangs and crime.

New life has been pumped into this community through an initial $35 million HOPE VI grant and numerous other funding sources. I was proud to secure a $2,900,000 Community Development Fund in the state budget to help with the redevelopment through the Tacoma Housing Authority.

The new Salishan includes both rental and owner occupied housing units through the Tacoma Housing Authority, Habitat for Humanity homes, a Korean Women’s Association senior housing apartment building and market rate housing.

The redevelopment has already won notable awards for its housing and neighborhood design, landscaping and environmentally responsible features.

Salishan is more than a redevelopment, it is the re-birth of a neighborhood. It is a local movement, empowering people of all economic backgrounds to move forward. It is a true story of what can be accomplished when neighbors embrace their diversity and work together to achieve a shared vision.

I hope it provides a model for affordable housing projects across the nation.

Click here to watch a documentary made by Bryan Johnson, a teacher at Lister Elementary School, and his fifth grade class during the 2002-03 school year. They wrote the script, did the interviews, took the pictures and played the music.