November
2002
Leadership
Trenton: Fellows discuss Trenton's economic and community development
By
Pamela Sims Jones
Having
co-founded a non-profit housing group more than 10 years ago,
I really looked forward to the September Leadership Trenton seminar,
which focused on economic and community development and will continue
with our October session. The morning session was a team exercise
entitled "Trenton as a place to live and work." Each
team worked on an action plan and steps needed to reach the goal
of creating a city where people want to live, work, and visit.
We presented our recommendations and garnered reactions from our
expert panel participants: Roland Anglin, President of NJ Public
Policy Research Institute; Ron Berman, President of R. Berman
Development Company; Matt Bergheiser, Executive Director of the
Trenton Downtown Association; and Dennis Gonzalez, Director of
Trenton's Dept. of Housing and Economic Development.
Recommendations
made by our team of Fellows included: improve the school system;
increase community participation in decision-making processes;
market Trenton to surrounding communities; deconcentrate poverty
through fair-share housing taxation reform; create regional collaboration
between municipalities; create a consortium of cross-sector groups
in the city; create positive relations between the community and
police department; urge government accountability, efficiency,
and political fairness; and provide affordable and quality housing.
Ron
Berman stated that "there is a disconnect between true value
and real value in the real estate market in Trenton…arts
and theater are critical factors and a downtown strategy has to
deal with magnet attractions." Roland Anglin shared his thoughts:
"A livable city's approach is to provide support services,
and when you take care of the basics, the rest will follow…
Attract the middle class and make it better for the low-income
citizen. With any economic development venture, you need luck,
patience, capital, and the capacity to succeed.
In
Building Cities, authors Allan Mallach and Diane Sterner outline
what a successful city would look like. A few of their recommendations
are that they would be "places where people live because
they want to, not because they have to…serving as hubs of
social, cultural, and economic life; they would offer good jobs;
they would be financially secure because of vibrant economies
that support top quality services and no longer be victims of
a property tax structure and related polices that retard urban
development."
Development
is a complex process and each "project" is fueled by
a myriad of variables. What is happening in Trenton is a mixture
of engaging community organizations, state government, businesses,
and civic leaders. But how has development affected neighborhoods,
poverty levels, and business opportunities for residents?
Among
the most compelling and urgent factors a city needs to study and
address are sprawl, race, and the concentration of poverty. David
Rusk, author of Cities Without Suburbs, states, "Sprawl and
race are interconnected. They are clearly linked through the concentration
of poverty that creates push/pull effects that feed sprawl. Concentrated
poverty is itself a racially skewed phenomenon." Often times
development efforts fail because the issue of racism is not confronted
head on, which is as much a cause of poverty and sprawl than anything
else.
During
our afternoon site visits to the hotel/downtown district, the
South Trenton Neighborhood, and the Twilight School Community
Development Project, you could see the ongoing possibilities for
creating businesses to support the restaurants, and providing
unique living space and learning opportunities. What should not
happen is a suburbanization of Trenton's downtown. There is a
need to connect all the points of interest in the Trenton-Mercer
County area starting with the creation of a transportation system
that is fun and functional.
There
are many opinions and suggestions on what will really help Trenton
become a place where neighborhoods, schools, and families are
strong and thriving, and therefore, what kind of development is
best. Instead of looking at the negatives, focus on the positives
of living in a capital city where you can have access to good
schools, historical landmarks, clean neighborhoods, good jobs,
arts and theatre, and cultural diversity. To begin with, there
has to be an honest collaboration between the community, local
and state government, and developers - all of these entities emphasizing
economic growth for the citizens as well as capitalizing on housing
and space stock available, and creating new projects that cater
to the needs of the surrounding communities.
#
# #
Funding
from the Merrill Lynch Community Development Company supported
the 2002 Leadership Trenton Economic & Community Development
Seminar. Many thanks to all of the participating panelists, guests,
and site visit hosts.
Pamela
Sims Jones is Deputy Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative
Commission at the New Jersey Dept. of State.
