Forty-three affordable units just opened in Coleman Park
It's the unofficial start of summer in West Palm.
Forty-three affordable units just opened in Coleman Park
This is the kind of weeks-and-months project that doesn't show up in headlines until move-in day, and then suddenly there are people in a building that wasn't ready a month ago. Coleman Park, just north of downtown, has been the neighborhood where the city's redevelopment pressure has been most visible. As of this week, the Coleman Park Renaissance Project has new homes ready.
The new round is 43 affordable units along Tamarind Avenue, in two- and three-story buildings, with rents from just under $400 to $1,850 a month. The larger project is transforming 11 vacant lots into six buildings of low-income housing for families, seniors, and people with special needs. WPTV's framing is that the project gives existing low-income residents a chance to stay as major redevelopment reshapes the area.
WPTV spoke with Wanda Walker, who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly a decade and now lives in one of the new units. Palm Beach County Commissioner Bobby Powell Jr. framed the buildings as both housing for current residents and a small-business runway as new tenants arrive.
If you haven't driven Tamarind north of downtown lately, the change is visible from the street.
City Hall, Mandel Library, and Grassy Waters closed Monday
City Hall, the Mandel Public Library, and the Grassy Waters Preserve Nature Center are closed Monday, May 25, for Memorial Day. Trash and garbage pickup runs on the regular schedule. City Hall and Grassy Waters reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 26; the library opens at 9:30 a.m.
If you need a permit pickup, a library hold, or a Grassy Waters walk, plan around the closure.
More noise monitors approved as Mar-a-Lago flight fight escalates
The Citizens Committee on Airport Noise approved installation of four more permanent monitors around Palm Beach International on Thursday, expanding the data set residents and city officials can use when arguing with the airport. WPTV reports about a 15% increase in flights headed east since the Mar-a-Lago flight restrictions redirected traffic over local neighborhoods, based on roughly 99 days of data collected so far.
Two days before the CCAN meeting, Palm Beach County agreed to write a letter to the Secret Service asking that the flight restrictions over Mar-a-Lago be lifted while President Trump is gone for the summer.
If your neighborhood has gotten louder this spring, the monitor data and the federal response are the two pieces to watch through hurricane season.
Ride WPB's blue vans are leaving May 31
The city's familiar blue Ride WPB vans will be retired May 31 and replaced this summer by an all-electric program that reaches beyond downtown. WPTV reports the new service will cover expanded areas east of Interstate 95, opening access to more than 100,000 people, with both fixed routes and on-demand rides.
That is a meaningful shift if you live near, but not exactly inside, the downtown loop. Ride WPB served mostly downtown and attracted roughly 20,000 riders monthly. The replacement is supposed to stretch farther east of I-95, blend scheduled routes with on-demand rides, and keep fares affordable enough to compete with Palm Tran.
Jessica Keller, the city's parking and mobility administrator, told WPTV the current Ride WPB setup was temporary while the city gathered data for a more permanent system. Her pitch is that the replacement should be faster, more frequent, and more reliable.
The selected provider is Via, and the city is still negotiating final details. The new service is expected to begin sometime in August. If you use Ride WPB now, the practical note is simple: the van you know is disappearing at the end of the month, and the replacement is supposed to be broader, more frequent, and more electric.
We'll watch for the exact launch date and the first route map.
Cuban exiles gather at Jose Marti Park for Castro indictment
Dozens gathered at Jose Marti Park in West Palm Beach this week to mark the federal indictment of Raúl Castro, announced at Miami's Freedom Tower. WPTV reports Palm Beach County is home to about 62,000 Cuban residents, and the small WPB park, named for a prominent Cuban figure who fought for Cuban independence, has long served as a gathering spot for that community.
The legal weight of the indictment plays out in federal court; the local meaning showed up at the park. Not every national story produces a literal crowd in a small city park. This one did.