As a City Councilor, architect Kathleen Galvin championed this planning project, based on her work as a school board member to secure a Choice Neighborhood Grant. The Washington D.C. firm of Cunningham-Quill worked with the community to develop this small area plan after two years of engagement with affordable housing residents, local employers and non-profits, and a citizen advisory committee. The resulting Strategic Investment Area (SIA) Plan committed the City to: no residential displacement; preserving affordable housing, increasing housing and employment choices for all residents; increasing access to public parks, transit, healthcare, childcare and healthy food; an interconnected network of walkable streets and pedestrian pathways.
The Plan (adopted in 2014) and has since received state and local funding for, infrastructure improvements and affordable housing redevelopment. It also informed the design of resident-driven redevelopment plans for the Friendship Court and South First Street assisted housing communities, both within the SIA.
“Improve and maintain a high quality of life for the people who live there and those who may in the future by addressing issues surrounding housing decay, crime, health, jobs, adult education, child care, and transportation.”
(SIA Citizen Advisory Committee guiding principle in the SIA Plan, adopted by City Council in February 2014)
Images Courtesy of Cunningham-Quill
