six months after the murder of a 15-year-old teenager, the mayor confirms the demolition of the City of Flowers

Le Figaro Nice

The project is not new, it has been germinating in Jérôme Viaud’s head for years. The mayor (LR) of Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) wants to demolish the Fleurs district, at the entrance to his town. On May 24, a tragic event had already allowed him to come back to life. That day, around 10 p.m., a 15-year-old teenager was shot and killed in cold blood by two men on a scooter, in the heart of this outdated city, covered in concrete on all sides.

«It is a district which concentrates 100% social housing. 542 in total. This doesn’t work. There are many difficulties there. The fault is great impoverishment, with very degraded buildings, a more than mediocre quality of life, without any green space. Nobody wants to live there. And this state of affairs is of course correlated with delinquency”the councilor reacted a few days later in our columns, confirming his ambition for everything “races” to rebuild better.

“Negative spiral”

Six months later, his project was voted on by a majority at the last municipal council, despite the reluctance of the opposition, and adopted on November 5. “I say it again today, no one wants to live there. We are in a situation which is a negative spiral, it is no longer possiblehe insists. This district at the entrance to the city should give a beautiful image of Grasse. However, this is not the case today”. For the Riviera city councilor, there is no question of “do in lukewarm water” nor in “clientelism”. “Three coats of paint and new windows are not going to change the image of the neighborhood! We have to rethink it differently”he continues.

The latter first intends to put an end to 100% social housing, as is the case today. “We clearly saw that this model did not work. What is needed is to “residentialize”, produce social diversity by mixing access to rental and that to property”adds the first magistrate. The key to tranquility would also lie in the greening of the city, to make it more liveable and pleasant. “There is an urgent need to remove tar, remove all these parking lots at the foot of the towers. Our entrance to the city must no longer be an area of ​​social relegation”argues Jérôme Viaud. Currently, of the 542 housing units in the city, all managed by the social landlord 3F, 242 have been emptied for demolition. “Emptyed and walled up to prevent squatters from moving in”specifies the mayor.

All the tenants were relocated to other homes with the same landlord in Grasse. “A social diagnosis made us realize that there were many seniors who wanted to stay in the neighborhood, out of attachment. We therefore thought about a social residence for seniors for them which would keep reasonable prices”announces the mayor. In terms of timetable, the latter envisages demolition from the beginning of 2026. The reconstruction and beautification phase should last seven years from the first quarter of 2028.