Mayor, LISC Unveil Major Core Neighborhood Improvements

[Metro Jacksonville]

Mayor, LISC Unveil Major Core Neighborhood Improvements



Partnering with LISC Jacksonville, Mayor Alvin Brown and City Council members today announced new investments to improve and empower neighborhoods for residents and businesses through a joint initiative called Renew Jax.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-nov-mayor-lisc-unveil-major-core-neighborhood-improvements

[strider]

An important thing to remember here is that the Feds (HUD) has stated for the record that Jacksonville lacks the capacity to handle the millions it gets in grants.  This new initiative is the same players and looking back at the past, how well did the millions get used before?  The Feds (HUD) has stated that perhaps the traditional non-profits are not the the best avenues to facilitate the needed changes and improvements these neighborhoods need.  I do not see much hope that this latest initiative will be any more successful than previous ones in truly helping the community rather than just a selected favored few. 

[Rob68]

All great ideas and im sure the updates are needed. Wouldnt it be nice if the people in the areas could get jobs from this update. Would a community jobs program bring its people closer to their place and maybe they will take good care of this work.

[IrvAdams]

These are positive projects; it's a basic, well planned dispersion of funds for these areas. First and foremost, they need to have their underlying infrastructure and housing brought up to speed.

[tufsu1]

An important thing to remember here is that the Feds (HUD) has stated for the record that Jacksonville lacks the capacity to handle the millions it gets in grants.  This new initiative is the same players and looking back at the past, how well did the millions get used before?  The Feds (HUD) has stated that perhaps the traditional non-profits are not the the best avenues to facilitate the needed changes and improvements these neighborhoods need.  I do not see much hope that this latest initiative will be any more successful than previous ones in truly helping the community rather than just a selected favored few. 

some of these projects will be in Public Works...and the City has recently invested in some staff upgrades there.

I am optimistic

[Fallen Buckeye]

I think that the infrastructure improvements are much needed, but I think that the biggest problem is a lack of good jobs in the area. I'd like to see it approached from the standpoint of what can we do to make this area more attractive to potential employers and how can we connect the people in this part of town to a good paying job (infrastructure is certainly part of that). If we can improve the economic opportunities for residents of NW Jax, then the housing will largely take care of itself. Honestly, how much does building a new subdivision help the average resident of NW Jax? All of this housing redevelopment sort of thing is just treating the symptoms and not the cause.

[Rob68]

I think that the infrastructure improvements are much needed, but I think that the biggest problem is a lack of good jobs in the area. I'd like to see it approached from the standpoint of what can we do to make this area more attractive to potential employers and how can we connect the people in this part of town to a good paying job (infrastructure is certainly part of that). If we can improve the economic opportunities for residents of NW Jax, then the housing will largely take care of itself. Honestly, how much does building a new subdivision help the average resident of NW Jax? All of this housing redevelopment sort of thing is just treating the symptoms and not the cause.

+1