TEMPLE, Texas (KWTX) - A new city program could bring neighborhoods to vacant areas of Temple as soon as next year, targeting East Temple for affordable housing development.

The “Love Where You Build” initiative seeks to address decades-old vacant lots scattered throughout East Temple by offering developers and homeowners more flexibility in building requirements.

Sonjanette Crossley, 76, has watched her East Temple neighborhood change over seven decades. Where houses once filled the areas around her neighborhood, empty parcels now dot the landscape.

“And there were all kinds of houses. But people were glad to have them on all kinds of lots. And a lot of that has disappeared, as you can imagine, in over 70 years,” Crossley said.

The city’s solution involves relaxing setback requirement

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