Project Overview
The University at Buffalo East
Side Neighborhood Transformation Partnership (HUD Community
Outreach Partnership
Center)
The UB Center for Urban
Studies
Department of Urban and
Regional Planning
School of Architecture
and Planning
January 23, 2006
The mission of the UB East Side Neighborhood
Transformation Partnership (UB-ESNTP) is to build a university-assisted
approach to the regeneration of the Fruit Belt and Martin Luther King, Jr.
communities that is neighborhood-centered, focused on problem-solving and
anchored by a partnership with residents and stakeholders. An outgrowth of five years of planning and
working, the goal of this initiative is to halt the decline of these
neighborhoods and to transform them into desirable places to live, work, and
raise a family. The initiative is based
on the premise that universities can play an important role in the regeneration
of urban communities if they work with residents and stakeholders to formulate and
implement a community-centered, resident-based strategy to attack neighborhood
problems. This will be accomplished by
establishing a physical presence in the community and by building and
continually expanding the initiative to include other partners and programs.
Toward this end, the UB-ESNTP-COPC will be
housed in the Fruit Belt Community Action Organization of Erie County, located
at 326 High Street, and will consist of three interactive projects that will
focus on linking urban education (K-8th Grade), housing
rehabilitation, and commercial corridor regeneration.
- Linking inner-city schooling to the neighborhood development process through a partnership with Futures Academy, a K-Eight grade school in the Fruit Belt.
Based on the belief that academic excellence among inner-city students will expand if they see that what they learn in class can be translated into an ability to improve their neighborhood, this project is based on a partnership with Futures Academy and the Locust Street Art Classes and will consist of four interrelated programs: Futures Cities Computer Modeling, Futures Garden Project, the Neighborhood Clean-A-Thon, and the Community Public Art Project.
- Housing rehabilitation and affordability through a partnership with the Urban Community Corporation (UCC), a 501C-3 community-based organization that specializes in housing rehabilitation.
Modeled after Youth Build, the UCC will train at-risk youth and low-income workers in the
construction trade working on the rehabilitation of abandoned houses in the target neighborhoods. Our goal is to help the UCC develop its capacity by assisting the organization in three ways. First, we plan to connect UCC to organizations and institutions that can provide technical assistance and access to fiscal and material resources. Secondly, we will develop a comprehensive database on housing in the Fruit Belt and Martin Luther King, Jr. neighborhoods that will assist UCC in the identification and selection of properties most suitable for the rehab initiative. Third, we will assist UCC in the acquisition of properties that are to be rehabbed, and we will closely monitor and evaluate their activities. In addition, the center will encourage other organizations and institutions concerned with housing rehabilitation to focus their activities on these target neighborhoods.
- Commercial corridor regeneration on the Fillmore and Jefferson Avenue commercial corridors through a partnership with business owners and residents.
These corridors are vital to the African American community because they represent the windows through which people view everyday life and culture and because they are needed to provide residents with high quality goods and services. Toward this end, we will work with businesses on a range of activities designed to improve the corridor's physical environment, bolster safety and security, and provide owners with access to capital, training, and technical assistance.
The UB-ESNTP-COPC will also be used to
encourage faculty, staff, and students to become involved in the Fruit Belt and
Martin Luther King, Jr. neighborhoods.
We believe that participation in a range of activities in these
neighborhoods is critical to developing a deep understanding of the
constellation and interaction of projects, programs, and activities that are
required to bring about significant change in neighborhoods experiencing
distress. With this in mind, a mini-grant program will be established with the Baldy Center
for Law and Social Policy at the University at Buffalo Law
School to encourage
faculty to engage in theoretical and applied research in urban education,
housing and neighborhood development, as well as in community economic
development.
Additionally, we will be encouraging faculty,
staff, and students to launch their own projects and programs in the Fruit Belt
and Martin Luther King, Jr. neighborhoods, either independently or in
partnership with the outreach center. Various service learning and community
service initiatives will be carried out in the Fruit Belt and Martin Luther
King, Jr. neighborhoods, and faculty and staff will be encouraged to partner
with community residents and stakeholders.
The central theme of the UB-ESNTP-COPC is to
build partnerships with residents and stakeholders to engage in activities
designed to make the Fruit Belt and Martin Luther King, Jr. neighborhoods
desirable places to live, work, and raise a family and, in the process, to
construct a model of neighborhood regeneration that can be applied to
neighborhoods across the city, region, and nation. This will be accomplished by
planning and working with neighborhood residents and by providing technical
assistance and support to organizations and groups.
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