In the 1980s if you said “Laurel Gardens” to any Danbury resident they’d roll their eyes.
The federally subsidized housing complex on Main Street opposite a Catholic church was synonymous with drug dealing and violence.
Today, it’s a quiet, well-kept community swarming with young families.
It’s still federal housing.
What changed?
The layout, among other things.
In Common
The old Laurel Gardens in Danbury and Ansonia’s Riverside Apartment’s had much in common.
Laurel Gardens was a three-story, 90-unit complex spread between several buildings. Riverside is a three-story complex of 111 units.
Laurel Gardens was built in 1958. Riverside opened in the 1960s, city officials said.
By the 1980s and 1990s, Laurel Gardens was a haven for drug dealers and drug users. Riverside has seen two homicides in three weeks.
At Laurel Gardens, “crime was rampant,” Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said. “It was the epicenter of drug dealing in the Main Street area. It was a difficult and dangerous place, especially in the evenings.”
Environmental Criminology
Danbury’s Laurel Gardens was a tough place to police. It featured long stretches of internal, institutional-like hallways and stairwells. It you were inclined to commit a crime, whether it was burglary or drug dealing — the layout made it easy, Boughton said.
Ansonia Police Chief Kevin Hale said the layout at Riverside doesn’t make the police department’s job any easier.
“Frankly, from a law enforcement/security aspect, it is difficult to patrol,” Hale said. “The buildings are at odd angles. The apartment buildings face away from the street. The backs of the buildings face the street,” Hale said.
There are also “an infinite” number of ways to enter or exit the property and buildings.
In fact, there were two Ansonia police officers at the complex when the shooting happened — unfortunately, on the other end of the complex, observing a large group who were outside. Two more officers were on nearby West Main Street, near the Ansonia train station.
It was a detail not lost on James Tyman, chairman of the Housing Authority Commission. After a meeting with residents Wednesday, Tyman talked to reporters about Riverside’s outdated, federal housing 1960s-era layout.
Change
Things changed at Danbury’s Laurel Gardens in 1995, once the federal government dumped about $5 million into a renovation project, Boughton said.
“They restored the buildings. People were able to live in dignity, as opposed to living in embarrassment,” he said.
An important change — architecture.
Essentially, the renovation turned the apartments at Laurel Gardens inside out.
“Now everybody has a front door, with a front entrance, overlooking a courtyard,” facing Main Street, Boughton said. “There are no places to hide and there are no places hidden from view. From a pure architectural standpoint, it fosters a better sense of community.”
In addition, the number of units was reduced by about 20 to make it easier for the city’s housing authority to manage.
“Now, the community watch concept works. You can clearly see if someone’s trying to break into your neighbor’s unit,” Boughton said. “It’s now one of the safest places in our community.”
However, the renovation caused longtime residents to lose their apartments. They were relocated to public housing complexes elsewhere — not always in Danbury.
Tear It Down?
In Ansonia, the city and the housing authority are in the process of taking down two buildings in the complex.
“Right now the plan is to take two down within the next two to three weeks,” Mayor James Della Volpe said. “After that we’re looking to take five more down. That would leave four buildings standing. The overall plan is to tear them all down and put up townhouses.”
Della Volpe said the new townhouses would be classified as affordable — along with a percentage set aside for low-income residents.
The plan is not without controversy. Current residents want assurances they’ll be guaranteed spots in the new housing. Residents in Danbury were not permitted to move back into the renovated Laurel Gardens.
Riverside residents at a meeting of the city’s Housing Authority seemed resigned to the fact their apartments are going away.
The sentiment was summarized by one resident who wouldn’t give reporters her name.
“We just want to go out with dignity,” she told commissioners.
After the meeting, residents talking to reporters described broken stairs, grounds riddled with broken glass and urine-stained hallways. Several residents worried their complaints fell on deaf ears, since the complex is on its way out.
Meanwhile, Della Volpe said the city and the housing authority must continue with the redevelopment plan.
“The status quo, as we see it today, cannot continue,” Della Volpe said. “The police force does a great job patrolling the area. They just can’t be everywhere. Police are at a disadvantage because of the way (Riverside) is constructed,” Della Volpe said.
“It was built in the 1960s. It was productive at that time, but now it is obsolete.”
