Urban Case Study: Renewal in Melrose Commons

T"Be part of this committee and help save our community. Make changes for your own future, do not let your children down. Plan for your future and their future."

In August, 1990, a draft of plans for revitalizing a 30 block area in the South Bronx of New York City was issued by the New York Departments of City Planning and Housing, Preservation and Development. On paper, these plans appeared fine - proposing the creation of 2,600 new units of housing, 250,000 square feet of new commercial space, the creation of a centrally located 4 acre park, and a realignment of the street system.

In reality, however, this community home to approximately 6,000 people, primarily of African American and Latino descent, with a median family income of less than $12,000 a year couldn't have been less suited to the proposed plan. The crux of the problem lay in the fact that the people of the community were never consulted in the nine years that the city's municipal departments devised this plan. The people of the neighborhood knew that a plan was being developed and that it would lead to a certain amount of displacement (the Draft Environmental Impact Statement identified 78 homeowners, 400 tenants and 80 businesses with 550 employees that would be displaced). They also feared that large tracts of land would be bulldozed to make room for new housing which most of the current residents would never be able to afford. A comprehensive view of the plans, however, was never shared with neighborhood residents, and people had to rely upon rumors as their only source of information.

From this vision came the formation of Nos Quedamos - meaning "we stay" - a committee of the Bronx Center project made up of neighborhood citizens dedicated to organizing and planning for Melrose Commons. When the draft of the city's plan was finally presented to the community, the residents of the South Bronx had numerous objections. The people's concerns included: the affordability of the proposed developments; the in-opportunity for existing businesses to expand; the inclusion of services (health care, senior citizens, youth, libraries) not present in the community; the inappropriateness of the designated open space; the realignment of the street pattern that did not account for the way the streets were actually used; the quality of the proposed construction and the appropriateness of the building materials; and the future of the community for further expansion of municipal services.

With the initial assistance of the Bronx Center project, Nos Quedamos quickly became a diverse, inclusive group of community residents as well as municipal representatives. At the request of the Bronx Borough President, the community was allotted time to formulate an alternate development plan. Furthermore, the Departments of City Planning and Housing, Preservation and Development agreed to abandon the existing plan and to sit down with the community on a weekly basis to develop a new plan that was truly representative of the people's needs and concerns. The Departments of Transportation and Environmental Protection, the Borough President's Office and the Mayor's Office agreed to attend the weekly meetings. With only six months time that the community was allotted to accomplish the planning work, Nos Quedamos had their work cut out for them.

A combination of working sessions and community meetings allowed residents to express their opinions on the neighborhood planning. "Outsiders" to the neighborhood were also often given walking tours of the area to obtain a better perspective of the issues at play. The Bronx Center community organization assisted greatly with technical and design aspects of the revitalization plan.

The goals that emerged from these participatory working sessions were broad and directly applicable to the unique Melrose Commons neighborhood:

• to provide a framework for the redevelopment of the area that respects the existing community by bringing the community in as a partner in the development of the plan
• to provide services - health, cultural and educational, recreational and commercial opportunities that are currently not available and to reinforce those that currentlv exist and are desirable
• to support economic development anchored on the existing strengths and successes that community residents, businesses and institutions have achieved
• to become a desirable place to live and conduct business for individuals from outside the community who wish to locate here

A number of key principals also emerged from these working sessions, some of which were: to cause no involuntary displacement of people; to create open space that responds to the community's concerns of program and security; to respect the street patterns and movement systems within the community; to turn Melrose Avenue into a "Main Street" in the community; to permit a mixed income community to develop; to develop a variety of housing options; and to encourage opportunities for residents and businesses to increase their earning potential and expand their economic activities. Essentially, people strove to promote development that would be sustainable, would complement the existing infrastructure and the regional location, and would provide for future growth and evolution. Ultimately, the people wanted to design strategies to buy people into the neighborhood rather than out of it.

Due to this collaborative planning process, Melrose Commons now has a comprehensive mixed-use, mixed-income community plan that will help sustain the neighborhood as it is implemented, and, once fully in place, will be self-sustaining. The basis of the new development plan values people's "sense of place" in Melrose Commons. As little displacement as possible was the goal of the revitalization project, and in cases where displacement had to occur for the plan to go forward, relocation within the community was paramount. According to this plan, residents get credit for time spent in the neighborhood and their homes are valued resources rather than expendable buildings.

Though the physical and economic foundation of Melrose Commons has been greatly strengthened, the most important effect of the revitalization project has been the restoration of people's sense of community and civic responsibility. Through its work, Nos Quedamos established and has maintained a unique collaboration between institutions of higher education such as Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and Hunter College; city and private sector planners; architects; businesses; and local, national and international nonprofit and non-governmental organizations. This sustained and diverse collaboration has produced an unprecedented amount of information sharing and resource exchange, benefitting all involved.

As the plans for the neighborhood continue to be enacted, the residents of Melrose Commons will ensure that their voices are heard by their community representatives as well as their elected public officials.