RE-OPENING THE GREAT NORTHWEST
Heritage Crossing, immediately northwest of Downtown, has been strongly criticized because it is not sufficiently urban for an inner city location, is too sparsely populated, and removed a much needed portion of the City's low income housing supply. The winding streets of detached and semi-detached houses set amid generous green spaces that replaced the high rise low income projects does look very out of place next to the tightly packed rowhouses around it.
Contributing to its image as an out of place enclave of suburbia in the middle of the city is the fact that its eastern and southern borders are a virtually impenetrable wall created by MLK Boulevard and the Franklin-Mulberry Expressway. In the photo above, the historic Perkins Spring gazebo is set against a backdrop that includes not only suburban-looking housing but also a large grassy mound of dirt that insulates the community from the expressway.
