Although Shallowford Hites marks Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga’s first effort to develop an entire neighborhood from beginning to end, larger-scale developments are not new to Habitat for Humanity.
Habitat began in 1976 with a model centered on building affordable homes in partnership with individual families. Over the decades, however, affiliates have undertaken clusters of homes, subdivisions and planned communities.
Some projects have been substantial. Habitat’s 1999 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in the Philippines built 293 homes across six communities, while Habitat’s work in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas included a 400-home neighborhood.
More recent developments illustrate an evolution toward planning entire communities. In Charlotte, North Carolina, Habitat helped develop The Meadows at Plato Price, a 39-home neighborhood built on the former site of a historically significant Black school.
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity is developing 130 to 150 affordable homes at The Heights in St. Paul, Minnesota, with townhomes, twin homes, triplexes and fourplexes incorporated into a larger walkable redevelopment with parks and trails.
And in Atlanta, Habitat is developing Langston Park, a 68-unit master-planned community of townhomes near public transportation and the Atlanta Beltline.
That broader approach reflects a shift Habitat began formalizing more than a decade ago. In 2009, the organization launched what became its Neighborhood Revitalization program, expanding its focus beyond individual houses to improving entire neighborhoods.
For Chattanooga’s Habitat affiliate, Shallowford Hites represents a local step in that same direction: rather than building homes individually on scattered lots, Habitat is taking responsibility for creating the neighborhood itself.