The Clarksdale Housing Complex was a housing project located in Louisville, Ky directly east of downtown in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood.
The Clarksdale housing complex was built in 1939 and was the oldest and largest public housing project in the state of Kentucky. It consisted of 58, two- and three-story buildings. Clarksdale was one of many developments ran by the Housing Authority of Louisville. Clarksdale's location was bounded by Jefferson Street on the north, Jackson Street on the west, Muhammad Ali Blvd. on the south, and Shelby Street on the east. It was located adjacent to its sister complex, Dosker Manor, which is a housing complex occupied by elderly tenants. This location also starts the boundary east of downtown into what is known as the Phoenix Hill neighboorhood of Louisville. Clarksdale, in its prime, was one of the most notorious and crime-ridden housing projects in the city leading to its demolition. Drugs, violence, and police activity ran rampid off and on mainly throughout the 1990s into the turn of the 21st century. In February 2001, Louisville Officer, Daran Hodges, was shot while issuing a drug warrant in the complex.
The 65 year old complex was completely demolished in 2004, as part of the city's plan to redevelop housing in the downtown area with the area's fast economic growth from prior times of the early and mid '90s. The Clarksdale complex was the second public housing revitalization in the city of Louisville, after the Cotter/Lang Homes revitalization into the now, Park Duvalle area. This redevelopment plan is part of the Hope VI program which is the same program that has worked with Chicago's Plan for Transformation with the demolition of housing projects throughout the United States. Tenants from the development were forced to other housing complexes throughout the city or other areas, which often brought out issues with initial residents from those particular areas. The new redeveloped area is now known as Liberty Green, named after Liberty Street, which runs directly through the middle of the complex west to east. The name Liberty Green also stems from the area in the late 19th century, being rich with green fields. Liberty Green is currently under construction and near completion. It is already available for tenants which now consist of mixed-income housing. As part of the redevelopment plans, a certain amount of units are available for some of the prior Clarksdale tenants. Prior to the demoltion, many tenants argued, that Clarksdale's prime location just east of downtown played the major part of the revitalization more so than the crime. Many tenants who opposed the demolition, have argued that with the growth and development of newly downtown attractions and luxury apartments into the area, that having Clarksdale in the area would cause problems with property value, therefore raising questions about the real reasoning behind the revitalization plan.