ithaca's northside: turning the corner

NorthsideTurning the Corner

A Vision for the Northside Neighborhood, Ithaca, New York

Prepared by:

The Northside Neighborhood Association Steering CommitteeLeslie A. Chatterton, Neighborhood Planner, City of IthacaTim Logue, Neighborhood Planner, City of IthacaCornell Department of City & Regional Planning

Community Planning WorkshopJoshua Abrams, Community Planning CollaborativeBeth Altshuler, Northside Neighborhood OrganizerJoelle Meniktos-Nolting, Neighborhood Planning Initiative

VISTA Volunteer

NorthsideTurning the Corner

A Vision for the Northside Neighborhood, Ithaca, New York

Adopted by Common Council December 3, 2003

N o r t h s i d e : T u r n i n g t h e C o r n e r

WHEREAS, the quality of life in Ithaca’s residential neighborhoods is critical tothe overall health and welfare of the City, and

WHEREAS, livable urban neighborhoods that are close to schools, shopping,services, parks and other amenities can work to limit sprawl and encourage non-automotive transportation, and

WHEREAS, the economic health of small city downtowns, like ours, dependson the support of nearby neighborhoods, and

WHEREAS, healthy, stable, and diverse neighborhoods engender communityvitality and civic engagement, and

WHEREAS, the efforts of residents to maintain and improve theirneighborhoods are strengthened by organization and communication, and

WHEREAS, a neighborhood-based planning process can empowerneighborhood residents by providing the opportunity to deliberate on possiblefutures, to build relationships and consensus, and to create action plans forneighborhood revitalization, and

WHEREAS, a neighborhood-based planning process can promote coordinationof neighborhood residents, community associations, city departments, localstakeholders, and human service providers in efforts to serve neighborhoods,and

WHEREAS, the city has approved and filled two staff positions to work withneighborhood-based groups and residents, and

WHEREAS, the City’s Draft Economic Development Plan calls for the City to“develop and implement an action-based and comprehensive NeighborhoodImprovement Plan which includes a strategy for funding neighborhoodimprovement projects”; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that Common Council directs the Department of Planning andDevelopment to work with residents and other community stakeholders toidentify neighborhood strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and toaddress these with citizen-based goals and action strategies, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the City shall facilitate a neighborhood-based planningprocess that can build leadership capacity and empower neighborhood groups toimplement plans that will increase the quality of life in their neighborhoods, andbe it further

RESOLVED, that where neighborhood-based plans are created with high levelsof citizen participation, such plans will constitute a representative voice for theneighborhood and shall serve as a prioritized action list for neighborhoodimprovement, and be it further

RESOLVED, that action steps recommended for implementation ofneighborhood goals serve as a guide for determining the work priorities andbudgets of City government, and be it further

RESOLVED, that City staff with decision-making authority meet once a monthto coordinate on the implementation of neighborhood plans, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Ithaca Neighborhoods Council meet regularly to discussneighborhood plans, to network and to address issues that transcend the smallergeographic boundaries of individual neighborhoods, and be it further

RESOLVED, that Common Council intends to incorporate neighborhood-basedplans as amendments to the City of Ithaca’s Comprehensive Plan.

Resolution Adopted by Common CouncilJune 6, 2001:

A Statement of Commitment to Neighborhood-Based Planning

Table of ContentsSection I - ContextIntroduction .................................................................... 8Northside History .............................................................. 12Planning Process ............................................................... 14Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats .................... 19

Section II - Action PlanCommunity Building ........................................................... 20Open Space ..................................................................... 22Housing Opportunities and Quality ......................................... 24Youth Development............................................................ 28Infrastructure .................................................................. 30Transportation.................................................................. 34Neighborhood-Oriented Retail ............................................... 36Public Safety ................................................................... 38Sustainability ................................................................... 40Project Summary .............................................................. 42

Common Council Members

2000-2001Paulette ManosPatricia PryorDiann SamsTracy FarrellSusan BlumenthalPatricia VaughanJoan SpielholzJosh GlasstetterEd HersheyJana Taylor

Cornell UniversityDepartment of City and Regional PlanningKen Reardon, Associate ProfessorJoseph Bowes, Teaching Assistant

MissionPromote environmentally sustainable development through a comprehensive neighborhood improvement strategy.

Strengthen the Northside as a socially diverse, mixed-use, mixed-income, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood.

Nurture active resident, business, and institutional involvement in community problem solving, planning, and development.

The Northside Neighborhoodin partnership with

2002-2003Paulette ManosPatricia PryorDiann SamsDavid WhitmoreSusan BlumenthalPatricia VaughanCarolyn PetersonPeter MackEd HersheyDan Cogan

and

Cornell Cooperative Extension

Nancy PotterAudrey Cooper

Community and Rural DevelopmentInstitute

Tim Cullenen

City of Ithaca Planning DepartmentLeslie Chatterton, Neighborhood PlannerTim Logue, Neighborhood Planner

Ithaca Police Department

Christine Barksdale

The City of IthacaMayor Alan J. Cohen

Proudly Created by

Paul AndrewsKaren ArmstrongRon BellesBonnie Blanding-MayCynthia BondGail BrissonTravis BrooksCarolAnn BrustA. CalahorroErica CarpioYamin ChevallardJames ConnorLeslie ConnorsElizabeth DissinEarl EvansKen FungRene GarciaTeresa GradyJoanna Green

Residents

Students

Hugh HallMartha HallDanielle HautaniemiAileen HeathDiane HerbertArmin HeurichJudith HollidayDonna HoltChad HooverMark JohnsonJulee JohnsonRobb JohnsrudSharon KahkonenJim KarpinskiHilda KirschnerJane KoestlerAdrienne LampertJulie LoveMichael Love

Mildred LovettAnnie LovettDinah MaguireAnnie MartinezMarianne MarshKendall McAdamsMichelle MenterDavid MitchellPaul MooreAnnmarie MurrayFrank OrzinoJoyce OrzinoLacretia PayneAnna PerezAnn PetersHannah PhanTerry PlaterHarley QuinnJuliette Ramirez-Corazon

Joshua AbramsBeth AltshulerJoseph BraitschMichael BrownThomas CalahanMelissa CarinoJoanna CanterCaitlin ChipperfieldSara Erhardt

Bruce RoebalChristine SchepkerJoan SerraDavid ShapiroLucas ShapiroCoista ShopisPenny SnowDennis SteinSarath SuongJoseph SweetJill TrippJessica VitucciMichael VitucciDavid WhitmoreWendy WorkmanJessie WorkmanKenneth Wright

Jamecia FinnieWyeth FridayBeth FullerJonathan HarschIan HegartyJennifer HoosChad HooverLaurel HunterRose-Marie Jerlaianu

Taafoi KamaraAlex KarmenJose LopezTania MayTerrance McKinleyBenjamin McKloskeyMitali NagrechaEric PhillipsMike Powell

Other Stakeholders

Vincent ReinaGregory RicciardiJim RobenaltKunha James RyuAnnie SiegelSarah SmithHolly SpothEduardo ValeroJacob Yu

Karen ArmstrongPastor Ronald BensonKevin CuddebackRev. Daris Dixon-Clark

Nina HienMarcy HudsonLynne JackierRandy Murphy

Irene PetitoTony PetitoFlora SaganLawrence Williams

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I n t r o d u c t i o n


Purpose of the Report

Neighborhoods change over time. Sometimes thesechanges reinforce the threads that hold a communitytogether, and sometimes these changes unravel them.Sometimes these changes come from internal forces, andsometimes they come from outside. The key to buildinghealthy, sustainable communities is to direct the forcesthat cause this change.

The purpose of this report is to ensure that theNorthside neighborhood remains a healthy, viablecommunity. This report seeks to build on the strengthsand to address the challenges facing the Northside. Itlists both general goals and specific projects, orobjectives, to accomplish its mission.

Background

In 2003, the City of Ithaca Common Council approvedAn Economic Development Plan for the City of Ithaca.Development promised to bring needed tax revenue tothe city, but it also threatened to bring increased trafficand other problems to older downtown neighborhoods.Residents wanted to be sure that the benefits of theeconomic development flowed to the neighborhoodsmost affected. To show support for Ithaca’sneighborhoods, Common Council adopted a resolutionstating the City’s commitment to neighborhood-basedplanning and established a City policy to prepareneighborhood plans.

Shaping the Process

Ithaca’s commitment represents a major shift in themanner in which the City conducts neighborhoodplanning. The process adapted for the Northside PlanningInitiative drew on models in East St. Louis, Illinois, andRochester, New York. Concepts that distinguish the newinitiative are:

Adherence to resident empowerment and a resident-driven process

Focus on inclusion, outreach, diversity, andrepresentative participation

Attention to neighborhood assets

Collaboration between City Hall and the broaderIthaca community

Mural at the Northside IHA CommunityCenter

Introduction

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Stakeholders

Northside: Turning the Corner is the work of hundreds ofpeople. Almost one quarter of the neighborhood hasparticipated in the discussions. A dozen nonprofitgroups, including Cornell University, have helped makethis possible. Residents and other Northside stakeholderscrafted the bulk of the goals and objectives at three largecommunity meetings in fall 2001. (For convenience, theplanning group is referred to as “residents” throughoutthe document .) A steering committee, open to all,refined these documents during the next year. Thecommunity met again in summer 2003 to put the finaltouches on the document before sending it to CommonCouncil.

Organization of the Report

The document is divided into two sections. The firstsection covers a detailed history of the Northside andthe planning process. It explains the conceptual modeland summarizes information collected at the meetings,like neighborhood strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,and threats. The second section, the heart of the Plan,contains goals and objectives organized by subject area.There are nine subject areas: Community Building

(page 20), Open Space (page 22), Housing (page 24),Youth Development (page 28), Infrastructure (page 30),Transportation (page 34), Neighborhood-Oriented Retail(page 36), Public Safety (page 38), and Sustainability(page 40).

Major Findings

The Northside has great assets, both physical and social.The housing stock is varied and affordable. Residentscome from different backgrounds and bring a wealth ofexperiences and skills. Beautiful corner garden lots, aquiet creek, and neighborhood-oriented retail add to thevibrancy of the neighborhood. Residents identifiedphysical and social projects that would build on theseassets.

On the human side, residents concentrated on socialconnections, youth activities, and safety. Events thatallowed residents to meet one another were clearfavorites. Residents also voiced the need for youthactivities, especially geared toward teens. The Plan callsfor a number of social activities and projects that wouldincrease the cohesiveness of the neighborhood.

The plan envisions several major physical changes to theneighborhood. Increasing the quality of rental housingand improving the overall appearance of theneighborhood are top priorities. The Plan calls forprograms to increase home ownership and supports avision of the owner of the P&C lot to improve the storeand add supporting retail. Residents saw several otheropportunities, including revitalizing commercial districts.

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They also said that, as a gateway to the neighborhood,Third Street should feel more welcoming, with bettersignage and a more attractive streetscape. It should alsobe easier to cross Route 13 at Third Street.

The current location of the Department of Public Worksyard is a problem. Aside from the visual blight, the heavytruck traffic is a safety hazard. The City should move itand make the land available for redevelopment. A finalproject, rebuilding a pedestrian bridge over CascadillaCreek and landscaping the creek, will provide physical andsocial connectedness between neighborhoods. The needfor sustainability influenced the discussions and generatedits own list of projects including access to healthy,environmentally-friendly food.

The Future

Plans, like neighborhoods, change. Northside: Turning theCorner is the start of a process. The document lays outstrengths, weakness, opportunities, threats, and scores ofways to build on the assets of an already strongneighborhood. Undoubtedly, additional projects willsurface that fit within the broad goals of the Plan. Thisdocument should be viewed as a rough guide to beadapted as needed. The City understands this and intendsto update this plan in five years.

In the meantime, the City, residents, and otherstakeholders are committed to the goals identified in thisplan. Many of the projects can be accomplished byresidents without additional resources; others requirepartners. The City is committed to playing an active role inimplementing this plan and will prioritize these projects infuture municipal decisions. Working together will ensurethat every time Northside turns a corner, the future is alittle brighter.

Location

The Northside neighborhood is located in the city ofIthaca, New York, in the downtown area known as TheFlats. The neighborhood is triangular, bounded by Route13 to the West, Cascadilla Creek and Lake Avenue to theNortheast, and Cascadilla Street to the South. Land usesalong the stretch of Route 13 adjacent to the Northsideneighborhood are a mix of commercial, public, storage(Department of Public Works), and undeveloped land.The Cascadilla Creek bed has been straightened andchanneled and, although overgrown, retains evidence of19th century landscaping. Most of the interior of theneighborhood is medium density residential. More denseresidential uses are the Northside complex of the IthacaHousing Authority (IHA) between Third and Fifth Streetsand the Mutual Housing Association of Tompkins County(MHATC) on First Street and Alice Miller Way. Inaddition to the fringe area close to Route 13, there arecommercial areas on the east end of Hancock Street andon Third Street.

Well-maintained corner gardens brighten the Northside

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e

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H i s t o r y

Northside History

Ithaca’s early settlement was concentrated around thecity’s downtown. The outlying land that is now theNorthside neighborhood was a swampy area traversed bythe meandering Cascadilla Creek. Simeon Dewitt,Ithaca’s founder, first depicted the Northside’s presentdevelopment pattern in an 1835 map. Northside wasIthaca’s first neighborhood to diverge from the rigideast-west grid. The streets were laid out parallel to theplanned alignment of Cascadilla Creek, which wasstraightened in 1836. Around this time, land in what isnow the Northside was gradually drained, and the firsthouses were built on Lake Avenue and Cascadilla Street.The newly-channeled creek bed was landscaped and theprominent boulevards of Lake Avenue and Willow Streetwere constructed. Despite the early start, however, mostof the houses were built between 1890 and 1910, someyears after the city incorporated in 1888.

The Northside neighborhood was situated near regionaland interstate transportation routes, including the CayugaLake Inlet and four major railroads. Most houses are

modest, constructed for people employed at nearbymanufacturers, which included the Ithaca Glassworks,the Ithaca Salt Works, the Ithaca Gun Factory, and theIthaca Calendar Clock Factory. In 1895, the City beganconstruction of a sewage pumping station on FranklinStreet, which was replaced in 1939 by a new facility in anew location. The old building currently houses theoffices of the Water and Sewer Department.

By the turn of the century, the Northside had become agateway neighborhood, with large numbers ofimmigrants from countries such as Italy, Hungary, andRussia. These residents brought ethnic traditions likevegetable and flower gardens and small neighborhoodmarkets with foods and goods from the residents’ homecountries. To help newcomers acclimate, the SocialService League founded the Northside House in 1926 atThird and Madison Streets, which contained a gym,meeting rooms, and a library. Programming graduallybecame more youth-centered, and in 1967 the Westsideand Northside Houses merged. Eventually, they werereconfigured to create the Greater Ithaca ActivitiesCenter (GIAC), located just south of the neighborhood

1790First Settler, Mr. Lightfoot,moves to Northside

1836Cascadilla Creek straightenedFirst house built

1890-1910Majority of Northsidehouses built

Early 1900sNorthside has ethnicenclave feel

1926Northside House, at Third and Madison, constructed 1950

IHA constructionstarts

1964Route 13 moved topresent location

Ithaca and the Northside circa 1882Courtesy of Tompkins County TrustCompany

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H i s t o r y

on North Albany Street. The Northside House was soldto private owners, but the building survives today.

Large state and federal programs of the 1950s, 1960s,and 1970s had a profound effect on the Northside’sphysical and social fabric. The City’s urban renewalprogram, intended to eliminate blight, resulted in thewholesale clearance of homes at several Northsidelocations. Continued urban renewal in the 1960s resultedin construction of Hancock Plaza and clearance ofhomes from the sites now occupied by the Bowl-O-Drome and the Ithaca Housing Authority’s Northsidecomplex. The westward relocation of Route 13 fromCayuga Street to its present location eliminated what hadbeen Sixth and Seventh Streets and effectively severedrailroad access that had served industry in theNorthside’s northern section. Neighborhood access toRoute 13 was limited to a few cross streets. IthacaNeighborhood Housing Services (INHS), a grassrootsnonprofit, was organized in the late 1970s to counteractthe displacement of residents, promote affordablehousing, and preserve housing stock. In the 1980s, theneighborhood gradually transitioned, losing its feel as anethnic enclave, but retaining its diversity.

The 1990s began with a land-use plan prepared underthe City’s direction by the consultant group TrowbridgeAssociates. The Sciencenter, a children’s sciencemuseum, began construction on a new building in 1992and expanded 10 years later. In the mid-1990s, theSecond Street Neighborhood Watch organized tomonitor and report on increasing drug activity.

The Mutual Housing Association of Tompkins County(MHATC), a low- to moderate-income housingcooperative, completed its first phase of construction in1993. Completion of the second phase in 1997 created atotal of 28 new affordable rental homes. MutualHousing is currently pursuing a scattered site housinginitiative. And finally, or as a beginning, the 21st centuryhas ushered in the City of Ithaca’s new, resident-driven,bottom-up neighborhood planning initiative. Thisreport, Northside: Turning the Corner, is the initiative’s firstproject.

1977INHS organized

1992Sciencenter construction begins

1993 Northside NeighborhoodAssociation started

1996Children’s Drop-in Centerestablished

1997Community build at ConwayPark

1998Mutual Housing Associationcompleted

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P l a n n i n g P r o c e s s


Northside Planning Process

The Northside neighborhood participatory planningprocess began with City staff outreach to neighborhoodstakeholders, such as residents, business owners,landlords, church leaders, and liaisons from localorganizations. Support staff included personnel from theCity’s Planning Department, Cornell University’s Cityand Regional Planning Department, CooperativeExtension of Tompkins County, and the City’sCommunity Policing program. An exploratory meetingwas held on March 28, 2001 to discuss potentialneighborhood planning processes and the goals, hopes,and fears of the residents. Following this meeting,support staff and residents began recruiting a steeringcommittee, a process that carried through late May andearly June 2001. Steering Committee membership wasopen to anyone desiring to be part of the planningprocess. The bulk of the Plan was created in two largeNeighborhood Inventory meetings and a NeighborhoodSummit.

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee’s purpose was twofold. Firstwas outreach to other neighborhood stakeholders.Though the outreach focused on residents, the Initiativemade a concerted effort to include businesses, churches,and community service organizations operating in thearea. Outreach strategies included a media campaign,door-to-door canvassing, tabling at prominent locations,a press conference, informational flyers, a neighborhood

cleanup, an email list, and a web page. One of the moredramatic outreach events involved a sound truckcirculating in the neighborhood to broadcast the dateand time of the Neighborhood Summit. Anothereffective strategy was the house meeting, an informalgathering hosted by a resident who invited five to tennearby neighbors for discussion about theneighborhood’s history and the upcoming planningproject.

The second Steering Committee function was to workwith staff to refine and customize a participatoryplanning process. This included establishingneighborhood boundaries, deciding on an organizationaland decision-making structure, drafting a proposedmission statement, and discussing the impacts of raceand class differences. The Committee, with support fromstaff, guided the process and agreed upon the processshown on page 15.

The Steering Committee met regularly to craft the Plan.From the first meeting on June 13, 2001, to the meetingon March 19, 2002, the Steering Committee met about20 times; it continues to meet about once a month.Attendance at meetings varied, but typically included acore group of about 15 people, with a second group ofabout 15 who attended less regularly.

First Community Inventory Meeting

About 60 residents and a dozen stakeholders attendedthe first Community Inventory, on September 24, 2001,at GIAC. The meeting centered on small group mapping

Residents gather to craft the plan

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activities, including delineating neighborhood boundariesand identifying significant landmarks, assets, resources,and areas of concern. Fifty-six participants receiveddisposable cameras with instructions to documentneighborhood conditions—specifically, neighborhoodstrengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats.Northside children drew and presented what they liked,disliked, and wanted to change about the neighborhood.

Second Community Inventory Meeting

The second Community Inventory meeting took placeon October 18, 2001, also in the GIAC gymnasium.Again, about 60 people attended, though it was adifferent group than attended the first meeting. Thismeeting focused on three activities in small groups.Participants first added historical and personal events to askeletal neighborhood timeline then sorted thephotographs of the neighborhood into four categories:1) current neighborhood strengths, resources, and assets;2) current weakness; 3) future opportunities; and 4)future threats and concerns. Next, they sorted thepictures by themes, such as housing, infrastructure,youth, and aesthetics. These themes were then presentedto the whole group for addition and correction. Duringthe last part of the meeting, attendees filled in the blanksof a goal-setting and visioning statement and identifiedprojects that would help achieve that goal.

Ithaca’s NeighborhoodPlanning Process

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The Neighborhood Summit

The Northside Neighborhood Summit was held onSaturday, November 10, 2001, at the former PALS retailstore on Third Street. Though GIAC worked well for theCommunity Inventory meetings, Steering Committeemembers preferred a venue within the neighborhood. Inaddition to an extensive public notice campaign forresidents, representatives from a wide variety ofcommunity institutions were asked to participate. Theseincluded community foundations, banks, Citydepartments, housing organizations, the Chamber ofCommerce, and the Ithaca Downtown Partnership.These resource people provided insight and feedback toresidents on potential programs and projects.

Approximately 100 participants attended the Summit,which was scheduled from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM withmorning and afternoon sessions. Some had beeninvolved with the Steering Committee since thebeginning; many had not. The first presentation was aneighborhood profile based on information gatheredfrom the two Community Inventory Meetings, aneighborhood survey, and other data sources, such as theU.S. Census and Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services.The morning session ended with a draft goal statementand proposed development objectives being presentedfor group review and comment. Participants enjoyed acatered lunch and live jazz entertainment by CornellUniversity students. Afternoon activities resumed withsmall group planning teams focusing on each of ninedevelopment objectives: community organization, open

space improvement, infrastructure, housingopportunities and conditions, transportation and traffic,retail development, youth activities, public safety, andsustainable living. Each team brainstormed a list ofprojects, and the resource agencies provided feedback onfeasibility and mechanics. This feedback included anassessment of project complexity, cost, time frame,required organizational capacity, and coordination.

Six to nine priority projects, ranked by the number ofteam members committed to seeing them through, wereselected by each group. Residents categorized projects asshort term, medium term, and long term. The day endedwith each group presenting their list of ideas andelaborating on the highest-ranked proposals.

Signs were one of the methods used to publicize theSummit

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The Plan

The Summit was an exciting and productive meeting;dozens of ideas were generated for neighborhoodimprovement projects. Many of the ideas, however,required an additional level of discussion not possible atthe Summit. Participants also recognized that the Summitwas not well attended by residents from the IthacaHousing Authority’s Northside complex. The SteeringCommittee resolved to hold additional meetings to refinethe plans and to conduct further outreach, especially atIHA.

On November 15, 2001, about 35 people attended ameeting at the IHA Northside Community Center toreview and cultivate ideas generated at the Summit.Participants reviewed and discussed each of the topproject ideas within the nine development areas. Somepeople who were unable to attend the Summitparticipated in this meeting.

Two weeks later, City Planning staff and residents ofIHA hosted a dinner meeting at the IHA NorthsideCommunity Center. Residents were encouraged todiscuss their experiences living at IHA, what they liked,what they would change, project ideas, and why so fewIHA residents chose to attend the Community InventoryMeetings and Summit.

The Steering Committee also held two follow-upmeetings to further refine four sections of the plan. Thefirst, on January 29, 2002, dealt with the Housing andInfrastructure sections, while the second, on

February 11, 2002, focused on the Youth andTransportation sections. Both meetings includedpotential project partners. The Housing meeting, forexample, included representatives from the Ithaca UrbanRenewal Agency (IURA), Ithaca Neighborhood HousingServices, Mutual Housing Association of TompkinsCounty, the Ithaca Housing Authority, TompkinsCommunity Action Agency, Habitat for Humanity,Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and theTompkins County Office for the Aging.

Preparing for the CDBG Application

After the New Year, the Steering Committee beganparticipating with the City of Ithaca’s 2002 CommunityDevelopment Block Grant (CDBG) application. OnJanuary 15, 2002, the group met with representativesfrom the IURA for information about CDBG eligibilitycriteria, scoring, approval process, and schedule. TheDraft Plan was reviewed for selection of potentialprojects. Two additional meetings focused on projectselection, sponsorship, and development. On February26, 2002, the Steering Committee ranked 20 eligibleprojects, selecting a first tier of five projects and anotherfive fall-back projects. This list was submitted to theIURA for review and discussion.

A smaller focus group of members interested in workingon the grant met on March 12th to review and respondto feedback from the IURA. Agency representativesupdated the Steering Committee on CDBG progress andlistened to resident comments. Final comment by theSteering Committee on the application occurred at the

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regular meeting held on March 19, 2002. Staff addressedresident questions about project development, scoring,competitiveness, and drafting the final application. Tocomplete the CDBG process, resident representativesaddressed elected officials of the Planning & EconomicDevelopment Committee of the Common Council andthe full Council in a strong show of support for the2002 application.

Implementation of the Plan

Since the CDBG application, the Northside SteeringCommittee has moved towards implementation ofNorthside: Turning the Corner. A number of projects haveemerged as early priorities, and residents, with staffsupport, have taken leadership roles to see these projectscome to fruition. Some of the projects selected for earlyimplementation include: redevelopment of the P&CPlaza, rebuilding the pedestrian bridge over CascadillaCreek at Monroe Street, outdoor movie nights inConway Park, door-to-door canvassing for energyefficiency, a monthly newsletter, and a gardeners’association.

The Steering Committee, in the form of the NorthsideNeighborhood Association, continues to meet once amonth to work on these and other projects. They havewritten bylaws and will present them to the communitysoon.

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Weaknesses• Uneven housing maintenance • Perception of poor public safety • Lack of a community gathering space

• Social divisions • Recent retail losses • Missing and deteriorated infrastructure • Resident turnover• Increasing traffic volume and speed • Automobile-oriented • Lack of preteen and teen activities

• Negative neighborhood image • Incompatible land uses

Strengths• Excellent location • Neighborhood retail • Strong housing stock • Diverse population • Sense of community

• Pride of ownership • Natural amenities • Community-serving institutions • Readable urban form• Active neighborhood organizations • Affordable housing • Developable space • Rich history

Opportunities• Business opportunities related

to a busier Route 13• Expansion of neighborhood retail

• Additional affordable housing• Tourism related to local history

• Mixed-income, mixed-financing housing• Staffed neighborhood organization• Redevelopment of Sunny’s Plaza

• Increased diversity• Space for outdoor events in the P&C lot

Threats• Out-migration may reduce home

ownership• Consequences of absentee landlords

• Improvements may lead togentrification

• Softening of rental market due toincreased student housing closer to

campus• Social services overburdened due to

the economic downturn

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

At the two community inventory meetings held in fall 2001, Northside participants identifiedneighborhood strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats:

ithaca's northside: turning the corner

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