West Side Park Neighborhood

Planning Initiative

Newark, NJ

March, 2015

Tri-City Peoples Corporation Community Planning Action Program

American Planning Association, New Jersey Chapter

Team

Michael Benson

Lee Edgecombe, AIA, ASLA, AICP

Genevieve Lee

Kendra Lelie

Upendra Sapkota, AICP, LEED AP

Eric Sturm

Tom Schulze, AICP

Renita Aughburns

Toni L. Caldwell

Dave Henry

Planning Process

1. APA-NJ was invited by Tri City People's

Corporation to prepare a strategic plan.

2. Numerous neighborhood tours

3. Reviewed existing reports and plans

4. Interviewed stakeholders

5. Two Community meetings

6. Researched Best Practices in Other Areas

Reviewed Efforts from Other Cities

• Healthy Neighborhoods- Baltimore

• Sustainable South Bronx- New York

• Skillman's Youth Development

Alliance/After School Program –Detroit

• Prison Entrepreneurship Program,

Houston

• Crime Prevention Through Environmental

Design (CPTED)

Previous Plans for West Side Park Area

.

• Redevelopment Design Plan for the Park – Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers

• Kent-Brenner Springfield Redevelopment Plan – Newark City Planning Department

• West Side Park Community Action Plan – 1998

• Newark Master Plan – West Side Park Element

Project Steering Committee

• Sheila Montague – District Leader

• Pastor Veronice Horne – In the Hands of a Women Ministries

• Michael Thomas – West Side Park Community Center

• Chanda Dawadi – Brick City Development Corporation

• Mr. Allen – Principle 17th Street School

• Lori Scott Pickens – Rutgers School of Criminal Justice

• Captain Nash - Essex County Sheriff's Department

• Perris Straughter – Newark Planning Department

• Carolyn Wallace - International Youth Organization

Organization for this Presentation

.

• Neighborhood Boundaries

• Neighborhood Background

• What have We Learned? • Neighborhood Strengths

• Neighborhood Issues

• Recommendations

• Next Steps

Neighborhood Boundaries

.

Neighborhood Background

Demography - 2012

Population 11,217

Households 3,484

Families 2,598

Average Household Size 3.07

Owner Occupied Housing Units 781

Renter Occupied Housing Units 2,703

Median Age 29.0

Median Household Income $25,804

Average Household Income $39,636

Source : ESRI/Census.gov

The chart shows basic demographic summary from 2012 census data.

• Renter occupied units is greater than Owner occupied units . • Median household income is way below the average national household Income, i.e. about $57,000 and state’s median household income , i.e. about 68,000.

Household Income 2012

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0%

<$15,000

$15,000-$24,999

$25,000-$34,999

$35,000-$49,999

$50,000-$74,999

$75,000-$99,999

$100,000-$149,999

$150,000-$199,999

$200,000+

Household Income 2012

Source : ESRI/Census.gov

Almost 30% of households earn less than $15, 000 per year.

9,804

1,494

760 511

205 65 22 8

African American Total Hispanic Population

Some Other Race White

Population Reporting Two or More Races American Indian

Asian Pacific Islander

Ethnicity

Source : ESRI/Census.gov

Housing Occupancy

3,538, 81%

821, 19%

Occupancy Rate

Occupied Housing Units Vacant Housing Units

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

For Rent Other Vacant For Sale Only

Vacancy Type

Total Housing Unites : 4,359

Source : ESRI/Census.gov

More than 80% units are occupied - Strength!

Foreclosure-Bank Owned Properties

Source : City of Newark/HUD

Based upon Census tract

Over 20 housing units are bank owned (foreclosed) properties.

?

Foreclosure Properties

Source : City of Newark/HUD

• Data suggest that Newark is severally devastated by the destabilizing

effects of foreclosures – highest number of mortgages 90days

overdue.

• Tri City staff and volunteers observed significant numbers of boarded

up homes and businesses.

• Highest concentrations on South 16th Street and South 18th Street –

often numerous boarded, secured or abandoned buildings right next to

each other.

• NJ Spotlight - 50% of Newark mortgages are under water

• Realty Trac – September 2014 showed a 15% increase in foreclosures

in the West Side Park area, with about 15% of homes in some stage of

foreclosure.

Neighborhood Strengths

West Side County Park

Neighborhood Strengths

West Side Park Recreation Center

Neighborhood Strengths

Neighborhood Organizations

• New Community Social Services/ Family Resources

• Family Services Bureau of Newark

• Urban Renewal Corporation

• NJCRI (New Jersey Community Research Initiative)

• St. Ann’s Shelter

• United Community Corporation

• (FP) Future Potential YOUTH OUT CRY Foundation

Neighborhood Strengths

Neighborhood Businesses

• NCC Pathmark

• Cineplex Theaters

• Applebee's

• Papa John's Pizza

• Burger King

• Walgreens

• Home Depot

• Wendy's

• Others?

• Neighborhood Strengths

Houses of Worship

• Beth El Pentecostal House

• Beulah Baptist Church

• First Newborn Tabernacle Church

• Grace Reform Church

• Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses

• Macedonia Baptist Church

• Mount Calvary Church of God

• Mount Olivet Baptist Church

• New Born Baptist Church

• Neighborhood Strengths

Resident Commitment – National Night Out

• Neighborhood Strengths

New Housing has Been Built

• Neighborhood Strengths

Close to Downtown Newark – with frequent bus service

Neighborhood Issues:

• Lack of community leadership & identity.

• Quality of life – crime, security, schools & recreational

facilities and programs.

• Poverty levels are high.

• Economic development is badly needed.

• Housing foreclosures are high.

• Many vacant buildings.

• Access to health care & healthy foods needs to be

improved.

Neighborhood Issues:

• Community Leadership & Identity

• The Neighborhood Empowerment Center, which created the West Side

Park Action Plan in the 1990s, did not continue as a leader to

implement the plan.

• Smaller individual community groups are not organized into a

substantial and continuously dedicated committee to identify challenges

and lead efforts to change.

• Objectives of City of Newark do not always align with the community in

West Side Park – the City’s Master Plan does not address the

neighborhood’s most pressing problems.

• No community “center” or identity - West Side Park has potential but

this is prevented due to security concerns.

Neighborhood Issues:

• Crime & Security • Crime, security, and gun violence are major concerns in the

neighborhood – in the park and on the streets.

• There are not enough county and city police in the

neighborhood

• The Police substation on 16th Avenue should be used for

community policing activities.

• Police and citizen partnership does not exist to support

coordinated efforts to address community security concerns.

• Building and landscape issues in the neighborhood contribute to

crime—e.g. vacant, abandoned, and boarded up buildings,

lighting design in West Side Park

Neighborhood Issues:

Poverty, Jobs & Economic Development

• Poverty levels are high.

• Unemployment is high.

• There is a lack of local employment.

• Lack of coordinated effort with schools and universities to

develop effective job training.

• Population is slowly decreasing - people are moving out.

• Need for economic development that will provide services and

jobs.

Neighborhood Issues - Housing

• Vacant Buildings

• Need More Affordable Housing

• Mortgage and Tax Foreclosures Increasing

• Physically distressed buildings scar the

area

Neighborhood Issues:

• Quality of Life

• All of these issues together lead to a feeling

that the neighborhood is out of control.

• Crime & Security are very important

concerns.

• Schools are inadequate.

• Recreation is inadequate for children of all

ages.

Neighborhood Issues:

• Healthy Living

• Insufficient healthcare facilities in the

neighborhood.

• Seniors particularly vulnerable since they

don’t travel as easily.

• Limited healthy food options in the immediate

neighborhood.

Strategies to Address the Issues

• Continue to Organize the Neighborhood

• Economic Development to Create Jobs

• Public Safety and Security

• Housing

• Education

• Recreation

• Health & Social Issues

Strategies – Neighborhood Organizing

• Strengthen and expand the Steering Committee.

Make it more inclusive so it can take a leadership

role in finishing the plan and implementing

solutions. Potential members include:

• Newark Housing Authority

• City Council representatives

• Newark Police Department

• More Houses of Worship

• Block Associations

• Charter Schools

• Business Community

• Star Ledger

• Essex County Parks

Department

• Public Trust

• Newark Housing &

Community Development

• Greater Newark

Conservancy

• Others?

Strategies for Public Safety

● Partner with the Newark Police Department to: ● Staff a community policing center in the building that

was built on 16th Avenue ● Create and maintain neighborhood surveillance with

community volunteers

● Work with Rutgers School of Criminal Justice to:

● To identify programs that can strengthen police/community relations

● To identify programs that have worked in other cities.

● To identify at-risk residents and work with them

Strategies - Economic Development

● Capitalize on the growth of retail on Springfield Avenue to: ● Organize business owners into a West Side Park business association. ● Develop strategies to attract more business to the area. ● Find out what businesses are needed in the area. ● Find out what is keeping small businesses from locating and growing in

the area.

● Survey the community: o What professional skills do they possess? o What types of jobs do they need or want to pursue? o What programs could encourage job training and placement?

● Work with local agencies such as BCDC to get Small Business Assistance and job training and increase the number of small businesses in the area.

Strategies - Housing ● Target blocks near major corridors or facilities (West Side

Park, 16th Ave., Springfield Ave.) for strategic redevelopment.

● Form a set of initiatives to encourage home improvement, repairs and other maintenance

o Homeowners’ associations o Homeownership training programs

● Foreclosures - expand the Foreclosure Task Force programs

to assist homeowners to prevent foreclosure with refinancing or other measures.

● Vacant lots - explore the creation of a third party to take over vacant property and supervise their redevelopment; e.g. NYC Third Party Transfer Program.

Strategies - Education ● Engage more with local school representatives and Board of

Education in order to achieve better programming, obtain more resources, and partner with outside institutions such as universities and the Greater Newark Conservancy.

● Partner with schools and universities to develop programs that

target at-risk individuals for after-school and evening training.

● Collaborate with local social service agencies to work with children’s families that require help, intervention or case management.

● Recreation - partner with other organizations such as the Department of Recreation for physical or cultural activities to keep kids interested and busy.

Strategies - Health & Social Services

● Reach out to Rutgers Medical School and other nearby institutions to investigate ways to make medical facilities more accessible to the West Side Park neighborhood

● Create a source of information for residents to find out about health benefits available to them and help connect them to preventive care.

Strategies - Recreation ○ West Side Park is an important community assets that is owned

and maintained by Essex County. Despite recent improvements, other county parks receive more attention. The community, along with the City of Newark, should work together to change this.

○ Develop a stronger collaboration with the County Park’s Department to consider the following initiatives: ○ A private non-profit group to oversee the County's maintenance and to

raise money for needed improvements to park facilities and programs – this was just done for Military Park in Downtown Newark.

○ Seek capital financing to rehabilitate and improve the Community Center. ○ Create a network of community volunteers to create recreation programs . ○ Consider extending the hours of after school programs ○ Identify capital needs of the park - plantings, lighting, fields, etc. ○ Create a series community events to establish the West Side Park as

neighborhood center and stronghold. ○ Improve security in West Side Park.

What’s Next

• Organize the Steering Committee to serve as an umbrella group

to lead the neighborhood planning and implementation efforts.

• Form Working Groups for each category of strategies to define

them in more detail and advance them toward implementation.

These groups should include people from the neighborhood and

city and county staff.

• Continue refining the Strategic Plan until it is approved by the

larger, more inclusive Steering Committee. Then use the plan to

attract funding for a more complete neighborhood plan and

eventually implement strategies.