Editorials

Commentary: It could be a good idea

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By Gary P. Custer

Tuesday, November 29, -0001

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The effort is being organized by Michael Freeman of the Court Street Non-Profit Housing Corporation, which owns the Court Street Village and Avon Park housing complexes south of Court Street.

The designation makes residents eligible for low-interest housing rehabilitation loans through government programs and grants from government and private groups for projects that promote neighborhood stability.

A neighborhood must meet specific demographic and physical criteria to be eligible for the designation. In addition, there must be neighborhood support for the program.

The neighborhood meets the demographic and physical criteria, says Freeman, and the meeting will help determine if there is enough neighborhood support.

According to Freeman, the designation means more than making people eligible for low-interest loans to repair their houses.

"It gives residents the clout to get the help they need from public and private sources to identify and eliminate any problem that threatens the stability of their neighborhood," says Freeman.

Once a neighborhood group forms, an application is approved and the area is designated a neighborhood preservation district, Freeman says, the residents can decide what needs to be done to improve neighborhood stability. Then he and MSDA officials will help them find the public and private resources necessary to get the job done.

"It is totally up to the neighborhood residents to decide what needs to be done. The neighborhood preservation district program merely helps them to define the problems then find the resources they need to do what they think needs to be done," he says.

"With the designation comes the clout residents need to ensure that those responsible for providing services listen to them," he adds.

Freeman says that his non-profit group is taking part in this program because it feels that its success is linked to the stability of the neighborhoods around its complexes.

"If we help our neighbors improve their neighborhood, both they and we benefit," he says.

The proposal, as outlined by Freeman, has potential — as have countless other ideas to improve Flint neighborhoods proposed during the last few decades.

The program assumes that if the physical structures in a neighborhood are allowed to deteriorate, property values will decline and a multitude of other problems will increase until there is nothing left to save. By making it possible for people to maintain their property, a major cause of urban blight can be eliminated.

The program assumes that neighborhood decisions should be made by neighborhood residents, the people who have to live with the consequences, not by outsiders in the public or private sectors.

The program assumes that residents, with the help of government, can solve neighborhood problems, but government without the support of the residents can do little to maintain neighborhood stability.

The program assumes that residents can solve their own problems if they have access to information about the public and private resources available to help them and are willing to use the information to solve the problems.

Finally, the program assumes that the only absolutely essential element in neighborhood preservation is the willingness of residents to work to maintain the quality of life in their neighborhood. Without this element, neighborhood deterioration is inevitable.

It would be difficult to find many people who would disagree with these assumptions. The problems come in the execution.

If MSDA designates Central Park as a neighborhood preservation district will neighborhood residents be better off?

Both history and current conditions indicate that the program could benefit the residents, although less through low-interest housing rehabilitation and mortgage programs than through the inevitable increased personal interaction of residents.

Historically, Central Park residents have been very successful at maintaining the stability of their neighborhood. Since the late 1960s neighborhood residents have fought and won many battles to protect the quality of life in their neighborhood.

Numerous attempts to commercialize the area were defeated, a greenbelt was built, trees were planted in parkways, the school system's attempt to demolish houses across the street from Central and build a student parking lot was defeated, Avon Street was closed at Kearsley, an attempt to rename Kearsley Street was defeated and recently the neighborhood was rezoned from C-1 (apartments) to B (two-family) residential.

Yet, because there has not been an active neighborhood group in the area in about five years, there has been a decline in the neighborhood's stability. Designating the area a neighborhood preservation district might make it possible to solve the minor problems before they seriously threaten the neighborhood's stability.

GPC

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