1.
West Side Park Neighborhood
Planning Initiative
Newark, NJ
March, 2015
Tri-City Peoples Corporation
Community Planning Action Program
American Planning Association, New Jersey Chapter

2.
Team
Michael Benson
Lee Edgecombe, AIA, ASLA, AICP
Genevieve Lee
Kendra Lelie
Upendra Sapkota, AICP, LEED AP
Eric Sturm
Tom Schulze, AICP
Renita Aughburns
Toni L. Caldwell
Dave Henry

3.
Planning Process
1. APA-NJ was invited by Tri City People's
Corporation to prepare a strategic plan.
2. Numerous neighborhood tours
3. Reviewed existing reports and plans
4. Interviewed stakeholders
5. Two Community meetings
6. Researched Best Practices in Other Areas

4.
Reviewed Efforts from Other Cities
• Healthy Neighborhoods- Baltimore
• Sustainable South Bronx- New York
• Skillman's Youth Development
Alliance/After School Program –Detroit
• Prison Entrepreneurship Program,
Houston
• Crime Prevention Through Environmental
Design (CPTED)

5.
Previous Plans for West Side Park Area
.
• Redevelopment Design Plan for the Park – Center for
Urban Policy Research at Rutgers
• Kent-Brenner Springfield Redevelopment Plan – Newark
City Planning Department
• West Side Park Community Action Plan – 1998
• Newark Master Plan – West Side Park Element

6.
Project Steering Committee
• Sheila Montague – District Leader
• Pastor Veronice Horne – In the Hands of a Women Ministries
• Michael Thomas – West Side Park Community Center
• Chanda Dawadi – Brick City Development Corporation
• Mr. Allen – Principle 17th Street School
• Lori Scott Pickens – Rutgers School of Criminal Justice
• Captain Nash - Essex County Sheriff's Department
• Perris Straughter – Newark Planning Department
• Carolyn Wallace - International Youth Organization

7.
Organization for this Presentation
.
• Neighborhood Boundaries
• Neighborhood Background
• What have We Learned?
• Neighborhood Strengths
• Neighborhood Issues
• Recommendations
• Next Steps

8.
Neighborhood Boundaries
.

9.
Neighborhood Background

10.
Demography - 2012
Population 11,217
Households 3,484
Families 2,598
Average Household Size 3.07
Owner Occupied Housing Units 781
Renter Occupied Housing Units 2,703
Median Age 29.0
Median Household Income $25,804
Average Household Income $39,636
Source : ESRI/Census.gov
The chart shows basic demographic
summary from 2012 census data.
• Renter occupied units is greater than
Owner occupied units .
• Median household income is way
below the average national
household Income, i.e. about $57,000
and state’s median household income
, i.e. about 68,000.

11.
Household Income 2012
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0%
<$15,000
$15,000-$24,999
$25,000-$34,999
$35,000-$49,999
$50,000-$74,999
$75,000-$99,999
$100,000-$149,999
$150,000-$199,999
$200,000+
Household Income 2012
Source : ESRI/Census.gov
Almost 30% of households earn less
than $15, 000 per year.

12.
9,804
1,494
760 511
205 65 22 8
African American Total Hispanic Population
Some Other Race White
Population Reporting Two or More Races American Indian
Asian Pacific Islander
Ethnicity
Source : ESRI/Census.gov

13.
Housing Occupancy
3,538, 81%
821, 19%
Occupancy Rate
Occupied Housing Units Vacant Housing Units
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
For Rent Other Vacant For Sale Only
Vacancy Type
Total Housing Unites : 4,359
Source : ESRI/Census.gov
More than 80% units are
occupied - Strength!

14.
Foreclosure-Bank Owned Properties
Source : City of Newark/HUD
Based upon Census tract
Over 20 housing units are bank
owned (foreclosed) properties.
?

15.
Foreclosure Properties
Source : City of Newark/HUD
• Data suggest that Newark is severally devastated by the destabilizing
effects of foreclosures – highest number of mortgages 90days
overdue.
• Tri City staff and volunteers observed significant numbers of boarded
up homes and businesses.
• Highest concentrations on South 16th Street and South 18th Street –
often numerous boarded, secured or abandoned buildings right next to
each other.
• NJ Spotlight - 50% of Newark mortgages are under water
• Realty Trac – September 2014 showed a 15% increase in foreclosures
in the West Side Park area, with about 15% of homes in some stage of
foreclosure.

16.
Neighborhood Strengths
West Side County Park

17.
Neighborhood Strengths
West Side Park Recreation Center

18.
Neighborhood Strengths
Neighborhood Organizations
• New Community Social Services/ Family Resources
• Family Services Bureau of Newark
• Urban Renewal Corporation
• NJCRI (New Jersey Community Research Initiative)
• St. Ann’s Shelter
• United Community Corporation
• (FP) Future Potential YOUTH OUT CRY Foundation

19.
Neighborhood Strengths
Neighborhood Businesses
• NCC Pathmark
• Cineplex Theaters
• Applebee's
• Papa John's Pizza
• Burger King
• Walgreens
• Home Depot
• Wendy's
• Others?

20.
• Neighborhood Strengths
Houses of Worship
• Beth El Pentecostal House
• Beulah Baptist Church
• First Newborn Tabernacle Church
• Grace Reform Church
• Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
• Macedonia Baptist Church
• Mount Calvary Church of God
• Mount Olivet Baptist Church
• New Born Baptist Church

21.
• Neighborhood Strengths
Resident Commitment – National Night Out

22.
• Neighborhood Strengths
New Housing has Been Built

23.
• Neighborhood Strengths
Close to Downtown Newark – with frequent
bus service

24.
Neighborhood Issues:
• Lack of community leadership & identity.
• Quality of life – crime, security, schools & recreational
facilities and programs.
• Poverty levels are high.
• Economic development is badly needed.
• Housing foreclosures are high.
• Many vacant buildings.
• Access to health care & healthy foods needs to be
improved.

25.
Neighborhood Issues:
• Community Leadership & Identity
• The Neighborhood Empowerment Center, which created the West Side
Park Action Plan in the 1990s, did not continue as a leader to
implement the plan.
• Smaller individual community groups are not organized into a
substantial and continuously dedicated committee to identify challenges
and lead efforts to change.
• Objectives of City of Newark do not always align with the community in
West Side Park – the City’s Master Plan does not address the
neighborhood’s most pressing problems.
• No community “center” or identity - West Side Park has potential but
this is prevented due to security concerns.

26.
Neighborhood Issues:
• Crime & Security
• Crime, security, and gun violence are major concerns in the
neighborhood – in the park and on the streets.
• There are not enough county and city police in the
neighborhood
• The Police substation on 16th Avenue should be used for
community policing activities.
• Police and citizen partnership does not exist to support
coordinated efforts to address community security concerns.
• Building and landscape issues in the neighborhood contribute to
crime—e.g. vacant, abandoned, and boarded up buildings,
lighting design in West Side Park

27.
Neighborhood Issues:
Poverty, Jobs & Economic Development
• Poverty levels are high.
• Unemployment is high.
• There is a lack of local employment.
• Lack of coordinated effort with schools and universities to
develop effective job training.
• Population is slowly decreasing - people are moving out.
• Need for economic development that will provide services and
jobs.

28.
Neighborhood Issues - Housing
• Vacant Buildings
• Need More Affordable Housing
• Mortgage and Tax Foreclosures Increasing
• Physically distressed buildings scar the
area

29.
Neighborhood Issues:
• Quality of Life
• All of these issues together lead to a feeling
that the neighborhood is out of control.
• Crime & Security are very important
concerns.
• Schools are inadequate.
• Recreation is inadequate for children of all
ages.

30.
Neighborhood Issues:
• Healthy Living
• Insufficient healthcare facilities in the
neighborhood.
• Seniors particularly vulnerable since they
don’t travel as easily.
• Limited healthy food options in the immediate
neighborhood.

31.
Strategies to Address the Issues
• Continue to Organize the Neighborhood
• Economic Development to Create Jobs
• Public Safety and Security
• Housing
• Education
• Recreation
• Health & Social Issues

32.
Strategies – Neighborhood Organizing
• Strengthen and expand the Steering Committee.
Make it more inclusive so it can take a leadership
role in finishing the plan and implementing
solutions. Potential members include:
• Newark Housing Authority
• City Council representatives
• Newark Police Department
• More Houses of Worship
• Block Associations
• Charter Schools
• Business Community
• Star Ledger
• Essex County Parks
Department
• Public Trust
• Newark Housing &
Community Development
• Greater Newark
Conservancy
• Others?

33.
Strategies for Public Safety
● Partner with the Newark Police Department to:
● Staff a community policing center in the building that
was built on 16th Avenue
● Create and maintain neighborhood surveillance with
community volunteers
● Work with Rutgers School of Criminal Justice to:
● To identify programs that can strengthen
police/community relations
● To identify programs that have worked in other cities.
● To identify at-risk residents and work with them

34.
Strategies - Economic Development
● Capitalize on the growth of retail on Springfield Avenue to:
● Organize business owners into a West Side Park business association.
● Develop strategies to attract more business to the area.
● Find out what businesses are needed in the area.
● Find out what is keeping small businesses from locating and growing in
the area.
● Survey the community:
o What professional skills do they possess?
o What types of jobs do they need or want to pursue?
o What programs could encourage job training and placement?
● Work with local agencies such as BCDC to get Small Business Assistance
and job training and increase the number of small businesses in the area.

35.
Strategies - Housing
● Target blocks near major corridors or facilities (West Side
Park, 16th Ave., Springfield Ave.) for strategic redevelopment.
● Form a set of initiatives to encourage home improvement,
repairs and other maintenance
o Homeowners’ associations
o Homeownership training programs
● Foreclosures - expand the Foreclosure Task Force programs
to assist homeowners to prevent foreclosure with refinancing
or other measures.
● Vacant lots - explore the creation of a third party to take
over vacant property and supervise their redevelopment;
e.g. NYC Third Party Transfer Program.

36.
Strategies - Education
● Engage more with local school representatives and Board of
Education in order to achieve better programming, obtain more
resources, and partner with outside institutions such as universities
and the Greater Newark Conservancy.
● Partner with schools and universities to develop programs that
target at-risk individuals for after-school and evening training.
● Collaborate with local social service agencies to work with children’s
families that require help, intervention or case management.
● Recreation - partner with other organizations such as the
Department of Recreation for physical or cultural activities to keep
kids interested and busy.

37.
Strategies - Health & Social Services
● Reach out to Rutgers Medical School and other nearby
institutions to investigate ways to make medical facilities more
accessible to the West Side Park neighborhood
● Create a source of information for residents to find out about
health benefits available to them and help connect them to
preventive care.

38.
Strategies - Recreation
○ West Side Park is an important community assets that is owned
and maintained by Essex County. Despite recent improvements,
other county parks receive more attention. The community,
along with the City of Newark, should work together to change
this.
○ Develop a stronger collaboration with the County Park’s
Department to consider the following initiatives:
○ A private non-profit group to oversee the County's maintenance and to
raise money for needed improvements to park facilities and programs –
this was just done for Military Park in Downtown Newark.
○ Seek capital financing to rehabilitate and improve the Community Center.
○ Create a network of community volunteers to create recreation programs .
○ Consider extending the hours of after school programs
○ Identify capital needs of the park - plantings, lighting, fields, etc.
○ Create a series community events to establish the West Side Park as
neighborhood center and stronghold.
○ Improve security in West Side Park.

39.
What’s Next
• Organize the Steering Committee to serve as an umbrella group
to lead the neighborhood planning and implementation efforts.
• Form Working Groups for each category of strategies to define
them in more detail and advance them toward implementation.
These groups should include people from the neighborhood and
city and county staff.
• Continue refining the Strategic Plan until it is approved by the
larger, more inclusive Steering Committee. Then use the plan to
attract funding for a more complete neighborhood plan and
eventually implement strategies.