On Rusher Street, tape marks off more property being acquired to turn the blighted area into a neighborhood of privately owned single-family homes. Rusher Street is showing definite signs that the multi-year Southwest Washington Redevelopment Plan is moving forward, as the City of Washington has bought a highly visible corner lot at the intersection of Hospital Drive.

"We're about halfway through acquiring properties on Rusher Street," David Jenkins said. "The City is continuing to acquire properties and demolish structures in preparation for the next part of the redevelopment plan, which is building new single-family homes."

The program has already allowed the city to buy up or condemn many of the abandoned structures on the three-block-long Rusher Street, between Whitehall Street and Hospital Drive, which has been the home of a handful of proud homeowners, but also many overgrown lots, dilapidated houses, and abandoned trailers.

Last year, the City of Washington was awarded $800,000 in federal grants for infrastructure improvements such as new storm water and sewage lines, street paving, and property acquisition, that laid the groundwork for redeveloping the Rusher Street area. A second grant will allow the city to restructure the streetscape with improved utilities, and finally allow for several new owner-occupied homes to be financed and built.

The Rusher Street renovation is the centerpiece of the multi-year Southwest Washington Redevelopment Plan, which is designed to promote private single-family housing redevelopment, promote commercial investment, and clear dilapidated housing in the Whitehall area.

The redevelopment grants were part of nearly $36 million in federal grants from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the state's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and Community HOME Investment Program (CHIP).

The CDBG program is administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which uses funds allocated through HUD to support local initiatives that focus on improving living conditions and economic opportunities throughout the state.