Back on the block: more Blacks are buying fixer-uppers in the hood. These four families did; here's why you can, too

Lisa Williams had a sepia-toned vision of the American dream when she began house hunting a few years back But after purchasing a property in suburban Virginia, she quickly realized the zip code didn't suit her lifestyle, which was independent, sophisticated, vibrant. "I couldn't stand the suburbs--kind of dull and too slow," says Williams, 33, co-owner of a family real-estate firm. "What I was really looking for was a great location."

Last year Williams stumbled upon a listing for a four-story Victorian brownstone that was the childhood home of jazz great Duke Ellington, located in the historically African-American U Street corridor of northwest Washington, D.C. The once-blighted area has been on the rise since the early 1990's, thanks to revitalization projects that ushered in new businesses, government offices and a convenient subway station.

Such amenities helped seal the deal for Williams, who purchased the $760,000 home last December. Williams says she appreciates having the myriad professional, social and cultural benefits of city life right in her own backyard. "I feel tremendously blessed to be in this house and in the city," she says. "There really hasn't been a downside."

In D.C., Harlem, Cincinnati and Oakland and many other cities nationwide, growing numbers of Black people who can afford to live in the suburbs are instead buying homes in urban neighborhoods. They range from Buppies with disposable income to working-class families. Some African-Americans have made the decision to live in cities on their own. Others have been enticed by the efforts of real-estate developers, municipal officials and community advocates who tout the economic and civic benefits of saving long-neglected neighborhoods.

For example, Live Baltimore, a nonprofit that promotes city living, recently launched a campaign with the city of Baltimore in the historic Upton/Marble Hill section (Thurgood Marshall was a former resident) to increase home ownership. Further south, in Richmond, Virginia's Jackson Ward enclave, where an African-American business strip once thrived, a slow but steady revival is talcing place, complete with $200,000 condos, apartments and tax breaks to foster home improvement.

Other areas looking to attract urban dwellers include Oakland, which has introduced the 10K Project to bring 10,000 new residents downtown. Meanwhile back in Harlem, the Abyssinian Development Corp. (ADC) has taken the lead in affordable housing development. They do so amid mounting real-estate prices, and concern that Harlem's latest renaissance will lead to gentrification. "We have a window of opportunity and we've got to take it," says ADC president and CEO Sheena Wright, 35, a corporate lawyer. "Otherwise these communities will be lost to us."

That said, anyone seriously contemplating city living must also consider potential downsides, such as higher crime statistics, lower-performing public schools and quality-of-life issues, like whether or not there's a decent supermarket within walking distance. Still, in recent years there's been a tremendous turnaround. "Many cities had been abandoned by businesses and corporate investors and later by residents," says David Glover, executive director of the 50-year-old Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal (OCCUR). "But now people are rediscovering these neighborhoods and seeing their value--that they're close to infrastructure, commerce, rails, waterways. And for African-Americans, what we most enjoy about urban living are things that support us culturally--music, art, a cosmopolitan environment."

We recently visited with families who've purchased homes in urban meccas and asked if they've been pleased with their decision. All agree that, despite the challenges, it was the best move they ever made.

a home in harlem

Kathleen and David Martin

Harlem, New York City

Kathleen and David Martin have always belonged to Harlem, and Harlem to them. Uptown natives whose roots span several generations, these childhood friends grew up loving the community's people, culture, life rhythms--and each other. After marriage, the couple, along with daughters Brittany, now 18, and Nia, 14, remained in familiar East Harlem, renting a place for years. Still, home ownership seemed a dream deferred in one of the nation's priciest housing markets. "My plan was to buy a house in New Jersey, because I thought New York was too expensive," explains David, 43, a city bus operator. But he says Kathy, a social worker who is also 43, "had her heart set on staying in the city."

The couple heard about Abyssinian's Harlem Economic Literacy Program for prospective home buyers and completed the five-week seminar. In 2001 their names went into a pool with some 5,000 other hopefuls vying to buy one of the four homes that the ADC would refurbish. Kathy recalls that "it seemed like forever" before word came in spring 2003 that they had finally made the short list of qualified applicants.

The house in question was a four-story brick row house situated on Astor Row, a historic district, and selling for $804,000. But they had to move fast: "It was first come, first served--whoever came up with money for the down payment," says David. "We tapped my pension, his 401(K) and our joint savings," says Kathy of the $25,000 down payment. The city's Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) agency kicked in a $304,000 subsidy; a special bank grant of $9,000 went toward closing costs.

Renovations paid for by the ADC took another five months, but in January 2004 the family turned the key in the door of their newly restored dream home--all 5,000 square feet of it. "The beauty is coming home to your own place," says Kathy of their two-story home. Two additional spacious rental units (her sister lives in one) help defray the monthly mortgage. "I have never lived in a neighborhood like this," marvels David. "We fit in."

street of dreams

Angela and Jim Bronzie

Cincinnati

Angela and Jim Bronzie wanted to live on a tree-lined street where their kids would be able to play safely outside, and where they would feel connected with their neighbors. But instead of heading for suburbia, in August 2002 the couple (pictured with their children, left) decided to relocate from Denver back to the Midwest, where both have roots and family.

They settled in a Cincinnati enclave known as Madisonville, once mostly Black, now becoming a mix of ethnicities. "We were looking for a diverse community," says Angela, 37, who is biracial; her husband of three years, 28-year-old Jim, is Caucasian. "That was important."

The Bronzies have actually owned two homes in this neighborhood; they sold their first home, which was too small for their growing family, and in May moved just around the corner to their current address. It's easy to see why: The couple paid just $49,000 for a six-bedroom wood-frame colonial-revival-style home with some 2,800 square feet. But they had to look past the obvious challenges to spot this diamond in the rough.

"When we bought the house, it was boarded up and had been vacant for seven, eight months," says Jim, a self-employed builder. "It was in bad condition--no electricity, no running water." "It was a mess," adds Angela, a former physician's assistant and now a stay-at-home mom to Carlo, 3, and Naomi, 8 months. "We knew that it would need a lot of work."

And there were other issues, namely red tape that stemmed from a foreclosure involving the previous owners. In the interim, squatters had come in and left behind "a powerful odor," with reams of garbage and debris that filled about nine Dumpsters. "I don't want to get too graphic," says Jim, "but the 40-ounce bottles in the house were not filled with beer."

Undeterred, soon the Bronzies began malting progress. Having spent about $110,000 in rehab costs (which they estimate would have been much higher if not for Jim's expertise), they began to see the fruits of their labor--a new addition in the back, for starters.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood itself is on the upswing. There are efforts to improve a nearby business district, and the couple also love having a community library and several parks nearby that the family can enjoy. "It's a gem of a neighbor hood," Angela says. "Them was a time when you didn't tell people you lived here," Jim explains. "But we're happy

to be a part of it. I am proud to live in Madisonville."

urban oasis

Donna Howell

Oakland

Back in the seventies, when Donna Howell first moved to Oakland from her native Boston, she took pride in the city's veritable sea of chestnut, tan and ebony faces. "I had never seen that maw Black people before in my life," chuckles Howell, 54, a former Black Panther Party member who was then in her early twenties. "Ever since then I've never really wanted to live anywhere else."

Today Howell, a city budget analyst, leads a quiet yet purposeful life in the Mosswood Park section, where she purchased her house in March 1991 for $155,000 (median values in the city now top $370,000).

But turning around the home, and this once-gritty block, hasn't been easy. "I had to fight to shut down a crack house and run the drug dealers out," says Howell, who has volunteered with numerous neighborhood groups and even helped organize a Citizens' Planning Committee. "I worked with city officials and the police department, and things got better. We all have a civic responsibility to participate in neighborhood efforts to make positive change in our quality of life."

After planning and saving, last fall Howell and Wendy Lockhart, her partner of 12 years, began refurbishing their charming early-1900's Edwardian-style two-bedroom home with the help of project manager--designer Barbara Edwards. Once dilapidated, with peeling gray paint, the hand-sanded home is now butterscotch-yellow with burgundy and hunter-green trim. These days you may find Howell and Lockhart relaxing on the back deck, barbecuing (Wendy is an expert cook), or simply enjoying their garden of lava rocks, trickling fountain and pink bougainvillea. "I will always love the city," says Howell. "It's where the people, culture and diversity are."

Donna M. Owens, an award-winning print and broadcast journalist, lives in Baltimore.

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