Massachusetts Gateway Plus Action Grant Report Have rhill Lower Acre N eighborhood Revitalization Strategy prepared by: 160 Main Street Haverhill, MA 01830 Tel: (978) 374-0519 Fax: (978) 372-4890 www.mvpc.org Haverhill Lower Acre Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy August 31, 2009 Haverhill Lower Acre Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Contents Overview: 2 Executive Summary 4 Introduction 6 Key Recommendations 11 Neighborhood Description 14 Process Detailed Recommendations by Issue: 18 Public Transportation 20 Housing 27 Parks & Recreation 30 Crime & Safety 34 Streets and Sidewalks 37 Career Development 39 Recommendations Summary Appendices A-1 Crime Statistics A-2 Crime Rates A-3 Steering Committee Summary A-4 Community Meeting Minutes A-9 Census Data/Analysis A-13 Household Ownership A-14 Demographic and Housing Overview A-16 Housing Physical Conditions Data A-18 Stimulus Funding Information Haverhill Lower Acre Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Contents (continued) Appendices (continued) A-19 Economic/Workforce Development Resources A-20 Environmental Information/Resources A-22 Housing Assistance/Foreclosure Prevention A-25 Vacant Lots & Green Spaces - Models & Resources A-27 Neighborhood Nonprofits & Services A-28 Housing Conditions Survey Raw Data A-40 Cost Estimates: High-Priority Streets in Lower Acre A-44 Photos A-48 Preliminary Winter Street Improvement Designs Overview Haverhill Lower Acre Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Executive Summary In recent years, a number of academic papers have pointed to the economic and social difficulties faced by Massachusetts’ “Gateway Cities.” These small, post-industrial cities have not shared in the prosperity of the Boston area. In response, the state initiated the “Gateway Plus Action Grant” through which many of these cities have received funds to develop strategies to revitalize struggling neighborhoods. Haverhill’s Lower Acre is one such neighborhood. Adjacent to the city’s renascent downtown, the neighborhood faces a host of issues including: high crime rates; poor infrastructure conditions; unsafe housing (much of it owned by absentee landlords); a glut of vacant and foreclosed properties; inadequate public transportation; and economic malaise. Building on regional best practices, years of experience in community development and planning, and the “grassroots” wisdom of local residents and stakeholders, the MVPC has endeavored to create a strategy for the revitalization of the Lower Acre. A set of “Key Recommendations” summarize the strategy: -Creation of a neighborhood association through which residents may advocate for their interests and carry out major components of the strategy -Creation of a “one stop” informational resource for residents to quickly access government and nonprofit services y -Increased leverage of federal and state funding resources r a m for cash-strapped city programming m -Concentrated efforts to revitalize targeted areas of the u S Lower Acre on a priority basis e v -The revitalization of the crucial Winter Street corridor ti u c e x E 2 Executive Summary The City of Haverhill now has, or will soon have a number of resources that will allow it to focus much-needed attention to “The city has a fantastic the revitalization of the Lower Acre. A housing conditions opportunity to assure survey, parks conditions survey, pavement analysis, and that scarce resources are sidewalks and streetlights analysis make up this set of useful appropriated in an and timely data. The city is well-advised to take advantage of efficient manner and are this bounty of information. That this information is so detailed targeted toward areas and recent means that the city has a fantastic opportunity to with the greatest need.” assure that scarce resources are appropriated in an efficient manner and are targeted toward areas with the greatest need. Detail on the background and suggested implementation of the MVPC’s recommendations is offered throughout the report. Appendices provide informational statistics and contact information for a number of available resources. E x e c u t iv e S u m m a r y 3 Haverhill Lower Acre Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Introduction Gateway City Initiative Following significant research on economic development trends in Massachusetts, MassINC and the Brookings Institution released a report entitled: Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway A typical residential Cities: Lessons Learned and an Agenda for Renewal. This landmark streetscape in the Lower Acre. report identified eleven “Gateway Cities” from across the state that have experienced persistent job loss, low education levels, and steady economic decline in recent decades. “Gateway Cities are Massachusetts’s high paying jobs in the knowledge industries home to 30 percent of (finance, health care, information technology) have concentrated in the Greater Boston area and make up 43 percent all state residents of its payroll, while only 27 percent of the payroll in the living below the Gateway Cities is in the knowledge industry sector. While the poverty line, although Greater Boston area increased its share of the state’s high technology firms from 1991 to 2004 from 53 to 60 percent, the they account for only share in the Gateway Cities dropped from 8 to 6 percent. 15 percent of the state’s population.” Gateway City reports and studies also document the disparity between Greater Boston and the Gateway Cities in regards to income and education levels. For instance, Greater Boston enjoys a per capita income level 74 percent higher than the Gateway Cities and a median income level 68 percent higher. In addition, the 11 Gateway Cities are home to 30 percent of all state residents living below the poverty line, although they account for only 15 percent of the state’s population. Also of note is that 16.5 percent of Gateway City residents now possess a four-year college degree, compared with 42 percent in the Greater Boston region. n o Realizing the existence of these disparities, which create a cti widening gap along several socio-economic indicators between u Greater Boston and these older industrial cities located outside d o of Route 128, has provided the impetus to address the r nt challenges faced by the Gateway Cities and its residents. There I is now a willingness and desire on the part of the Governor, Legislators, and Mayors and Managers of the Gateway Cities to 4 work together to create policies and initiatives that can revitalize the Gateway Cities.