After an 11-year wait, a home of her own in Strawberry Mansion

Finding an affordable place of her own was so important to Latoya Wright that when she learned that the Philadelphia Housing Authority was building green homes in Strawberry Mansion, she stood in line at 1 in the morning in the hope of securing a spot.

The mother of two had been on the waiting list for public housing for more than a decade.

The hours in line, said Wright, 31, were worth it. This week, she and her daughters - Mahagony, 13, and Jayda, 6 - will move out of her sister's home into a two-bedroom townhouse at 2800 Oakdale St., the site of 12 new affordable housing units in the North Philadelphia neighborhood.

The Oakdale apartments, a $4.63 million project, are the first of three PHA developments to open in Strawberry Mansion, which neighbors Brewerytown, a gentrifying section of the city. The demand for affordable housing in the area far exceeds supply, according to city officials: More than 400 people applied to live in Oakdale's 12 units.

"There is a desperate need for affordable housing in the city," PHA president and CEO Kelvin A. Jeremiah said Tuesday as officials and residents had gathered for the apartments' grand opening.

Wright, for her part, agreed. "People are in need," she said.

Officials lauded the Oakdale apartments, built on land vacant for more than 15 years, as part of an effort to bring more life, and more housing, into the neighborhood. The apartment complex, made of dark brick and surrounded by a well-manicured lawn, stands in contrast to older, and in some cases blighted, homes down the block.

"These are not your grandmother's affordable housing," Jeremiah said, showing off a furnished apartment open Tuesday for tours. "This is a place families could call home."

City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, who grew up in Strawberry Mansion, said affordable housing units such as Oakdale are necessary to address income inequality in the city. Improvements in real wages and education are also critical, he said, but housing is one attainable change.

"The one thing that we can do ourselves is to create an affordable community," Clarke said.

Later, he said an aggressive commitment to expanding affordable housing is crucial as other projects pop up around the city at market prices.

"We have to build balanced neighborhoods," he said.

Jeremiah said he expects a second Strawberry Mansion development, a group of units on Gordon Street, to be completed in August.