Daniel Fierro Berube the Lowell neighborhood is perhaps the most neglected neighborhood in Fresno. Poverty has a direct relationship with crime in a community and Lowell is no exception. The neighborhood experiences more crime than any neighborhood in the city of Fresno, which has caught the attention of many organizations and the city of Fresno officials. Lowell is situated between downtown Fresno and the revitalized Tower District. This combined with the fact that it’s of a manageable size and has many historic homes in the Local Historic Registry of Homes; it has been a focus of a revitalization project. The project aims to improve many of the neighborhood issues including crime. The affects of crime have been very noticeable in the area and specifically the real estate market. If improvements are made to reduce crime on the area it should have a direct influence on the demand for property in the Lowell community. a higher rate than the rest of Fresno and the state for that manner. Violent crime per 1000 residents is just over 15 for the Lowell neighborhood. These rates are nearly three times the California rate and nearly double the rate of the city of Fresno. Property damage crime statistics are even more staggering. Per 1000 residents, there are over 81 reported property crimes compared to nearly 64 for Fresno and 35 for the state of California on average. A graphical representation is shown in Figure1. Another statistic that shows just how concentrated crime is in the Lowell area is how many crimes are committed per square mile. The Lowell community has an average of 695 crimes per square mile, which is nearly four times the rate for California and easily tops the 305 average for the city of Fresno. It may surprise many to find out that low level crime like vandalism and graffiti has just as large an impact as serious or more violent crimes. Some would argue that neighborhood crime costs home owner more than burglary. Studies have shown that a high level or burglary in a neighborhood doesn’t lower prices because the financial impact is often offset by home insurance. Therefore, the high rate of property crimes committed in the neighborhood has been one main factor in the deterioration of Lowell.
Figure 1: Property Crimes
Neighborhood deterioration is caused by disinvestment of urban neighborhoods. Disinvestment is a process when a community will produce lower returns for an investor. As incomes fall, people start to leave the community. As a result, prices and rent also decline. When prices decrease, owners become less interested in maintenance and make fewer improvements. Building over time will become abandoned or condemned. After several years of this process market value of homes drops so severely that renovation or redevelopment cost far more than the value of the property. It is clear the Lowell community in a recession phase due to the number of vacant or abandoned units. Of the 1,828 housing units in the area, 231 are unoccupied, as shown in Figure 2. This indicates a low level of demand for property in the area, which causes a decrease in property values. The area could eventually get redlined and see increasing interest rates, higher insurance rates, and equity requirements to cover the risk. This is unattractive to owners to renovate existing property and for developers to invest in a neighborhood. Some characteristics of neighborhoods in decline include: lower socioeconomic status, welfare dependency, falling property and rent values, declining rate of ownership, crime, and declining private investments.
Figure 2: Lowell Housing Occupancy
There is a direct relationship between crime reduction and home prices. Although it is hard to quantify the impact of crime on property values in dollars, some studies have indicated that a 10% reduction in crime will cause home prices to rise 2%. This is because people tend to be willing to pay some kind of premium to live in a safer community. Even non violent crimes such as vandalism can affect a neighborhood’s attractiveness to both developers and customers. According to the National Association of Realtors, property in a community with graffiti will lose 15 percent in property values. If the graffiti is gang related or hateful, the property values may decrease up to 25 percent. Businesses will not be attracted to such areas where graffiti removal will be expensive and customers will opt for safer looking stores. is perhaps one issue that needs to be addressed before anything to make sure any improvements in the neighborhood will be sustainable. There are several ways to reduce crime but it all starts within the community. Organizing groups that teach residents to protect themselves and property could be implemented. Also, the city can enforce laws by increasing the police presence in the area to deter at least some of the crime. Change will come slow, but is possible for the Lowell community. With the city and residents working together crime can become manageable again and the real estate market will benefit.
Work Cited Bureau Of Investigation. Uniform Crime Report: 2008. FBI. April 4, 2010. Campbell, Douglas. Entrepreneur Connect: Crime and Property Value. March 27, 2010. <http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/170114047.html> McKenzie, Dennis, and Richard Betts. The Essentials of Real Estate Economics: Fifth Edition. Cengage Learning, 2006. Pacific Coast Times. Property Crime Hurts Bottom Line. Pacific Coast Business Times. 25 January, 2010.
Kelsi Marques
Ideas for Reviving the Lowell Community from Past Neighborhood Revitalizations in the United States
The first step to kicking out poverty in Fresno is to start with one neighborhood at a time. According to a Brookings Institution Study, Fresno takes the number one position with having the most concentrated poverty in the United States. The Lowell Community has been the projected start point to fix poverty rates in Fresno. The City of Fresno’s Department of Downtown & Community Revitalization picked the neighborhoods surrounding the Lowell Community because of its location next to downtown, its size and its historic buildings. This community is known for its run-down housing, low-income families, violence and other negative facts that this community has been overlooked for. There is a lot of poverty that is among American cities, especially in urban areas with economic changes. With community help from people and organizations, poverty can be tackled. There are numerous cities that have gone through revitalization around the country, so there is hope for Fresno to leave its number one spot of concentrated poverty with some help from the community. Below is a box indicating some stats that need to improve in order to bring success into Lowell. By adding some services, helping the people gain skills and awareness of what they need to do to improve this community is important. In the following I will be referring to other projects that have kicked poverty out in areas like the Lowell Community, where it will give some insight to how the Lowell Community can change its community for the better. Stats from the City of Fresno’s Lowell Profile That Need to Improve: · People Below Poverty- 70% · Median Income- $14,213 · Non-English Speaking- 70% · Owner Occupied Homes- 17%
Looking at neighborhoods that have been through revitalization is a great example to figure out what steps should be taken to enrich the Lowell Community. A similar neighborhood that went through revitalization is Holly Park in Seattle. Holly Park was originally built in the 1940’s for war veterans and then was changed into public housing (Reid, 2006). Over the years it became known as a high crime and poverty neighborhood. Getting help from a HOPE VI grant in 1995, neighborhood revitalization began (Reid, 2006). There were 871 public housing units torn down to begin the project (Reid, 2006). Some of the ideas that they incorporated into the refurbished neighborhood were a neighborhood campus that was an extension of the local community college that focused on job skills and training, a library, child-care and programs for children (Reid, 2006). Affordable housing was built for all levels of income that the community held (Reid, 2006). Other developments around the area will be plazas, sidewalks, bike trails and public art (Reid, 2006). With all the improvements, over 80% of households have a wage earner and the crime rate has been cut 50% (Reid, 2006). Cleaning up old housing, offering job search help and developing services for the area provides easier access to the people and a better living.
Studying information on what the people need in the community is a key aspect in rebuilding a troubled neighborhood. Another community that has been going through revitalization since 1992 and has been doing ongoing projects around the area is the Broadway South Neighborhood Revitalization Project. It targets the chronic poverty filled South Los Angeles. There is lots of unemployment, violence, drugs and urban decay (Beyond Shelter). There are 43% of families that live below poverty (Beyond Shelter). There are a couple of projects that they developed to help the housing and social services that was much needed in the area. Through the combination of Beyond Shelter and Beyond Shelter Housing Development Corporation, they began plans in 1993 (Beyond Shelter). The first project was the Umoja Apartments that targeted low-income families with a 30 unit building (Beyond Shelter). Broadway Village I was completed in 2001 where its purpose is a one-stop, multi-service center (Beyond Shelter). It consists of a Beyond Shelter Family Services Center and a Child Development Center (Beyond Shelter). There is also a 16 unit affordable development for housing former homeless people and low-income families (Beyond Shelter). There are also other social services that are coming to the village (Beyond Shelter). In 2006, Broadway Village II was completed as a 50 unit building with housing for very low- income families (Beyond Shelter). These projects are good ideas for providing new housing for the low-income families of the Lowell Community so they are able to afford their living arrangements. Adding life back into the community means going beyond the normal duties of building new developments. This next neighborhood that went through revitalization had less poverty than the others, but focused on improving the people and their living arrangements. The Matthew Henson Project in the central south community of Phoenix, Arizona, had a lot of outdated housing and no resources. The housing was developed in 1941 with its main residents of African American decent (City of Phoenix, 2008). Having many people succeeding from that neighborhood and help from a HOPE VI grant, it was an opportunity to bring the run down neighborhood back to life. The HOPE VI grant first gave $35 million and with other help the project has came to a cost of $110 million (City of Phoenix, 2008). The purpose was to change the neighborhood into a mixed income and mixed-use community with new housing, demolishing the old housing and restoring a few old houses (City of Phoenix, 2008). The project first started in 2001 and has been growing by adding new buildings and resources up to 2008 (City of Phoenix, 2008). There are 611 units that were built in the neighborhood (City of Phoenix, 2008). Partnering with community agencies HOPE VI brought supportive services (counseling, substance abuse help, domestic violence prevention, emergency assistance), education services (GED classes, language classes, adult education, computer classes), employment services (training, job skills, job placement), youth services (programs), homeownership services (financial counseling), small business services (plans, taxes), and community services (newsletter, neighborhood watch, leadership) (City of Phoenix, 2008). All these amazing and helpful services are located in the Emmett McLoughlin Community Training and Education Center in the neighborhood (City of Phoenix, 2008). Other buildings include a senior living facility, apartments, youth center, small commercial businesses, a park and numerous family homes. The buildings were built with green materials and tax credits are available on some of them (City of Phoenix, 2008). This project brings a lot of ideas for services and building techniques that Lowell can use. The three neighborhood communities that have gone through revitalization were successful and the Lowell Community can take a few ideas from them. The Lowell Community already has a resource center, but they can add on some services like homeownership counseling, an English class for non-English speaking, regular counseling, public assistance help and other services that are related to helping the issues of Lowell. Another idea to take from the examples is to build new housing that is affordable. Since there are some historic houses around the area, preserving them and keeping them up to date would be better than demolishing them. Demolishing the housing that are behind on codes and run down to be replaced by new buildings that are up to date, safe and even more “green”. Providing tax credits when purchasing the new housing can also be an incentive. Building new developments for special income levels will help those who can’t afford a home and have to rent. With having new housing it will allow the people to enjoy the renewed area and want to keep it clean and safe, Changing the community into a mixed income might keep out some violence and even adding a security neighborhood watch team to watch over the streets might be helpful. Adding recreational activities for families, a plaza with a grocery store and other projects to keep crime out of the neighborhood like the other neighborhoods did, is a need in Lowell. Any of the above ideas from the neighborhoods are going to help succeed the revitalization of Lowell. The Lowell Community needs a facelift to start taking out the poverty that lies in it. By adding new resources, buildings and making the community aware of the need for change will help the Lowell Community kick out poverty.
References
Jacqui Curry Home Ownership in the Lowell Community The key to any revitalization effort is home ownership. The building of assets for low-income families has shown to better the community and also help persuade the children of low-income households to seek higher education. Therefore, home ownership helps build wealth for the future. In the book Creating Wealth in Low-Income Communities, the authors had this to say about home ownership for low-income individuals, “Since poor people spend their money on daily living, how can they accumulate substantial wealth? In twenty-first century America, the answer is housing. People who buy homes are buying not just shelter, but also an asset, one in which they will build equity.” (p.1) Creating Wealth in Low-Income Communities is a valuable resource to explaining the “trickle effects” of home ownership. However, it is not always easy to sell buyers on a neighborhood just getting restarted. There are plenty of programs that can be utilized to speed this process up. The Lowell neighborhood currently only has an owner occupied housing rate of 17%. (The Lowell Plan 9/16/09) while the US average is closer to 66%. The first step is to find residents in the Lowell Community that will qualify for special loans and programs to get them qualified to purchase homes. The second step is to “sell” the neighborhood to outside residents. Lowell is a beautiful, original neighborhood of Fresno with many historically and architecturally rich buildings. Also, many programs apply to people who otherwise would not qualify as long as they purchase a home in a low income neighborhood. There are several lenders that cater to low income qualifiers and their unique situations. A key component to moving more residents into home ownership is to connect potential owners with lenders. The following websites came up repeatedly in the research of low income home ownership: - www.hud.gov United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is a one stop source of programs to assist low income families. There are several down payment assistants programs and they also have programs sorted by state. There is an unbelievable amount of self education under the tab “Topic Areas”, then the link “Buying a Home”. - www.bankofamerica.com Bank of America’s lenders work aggressively with their clients and government agencies to make the most of their client’s income. - www.ingdirect.com ING Direct also has lenders dedicated to finding home loans that fit the special needs of low income individuals. The many programs that are offered are not only for those that qualify but also for individuals that purchase their home in a low income neighborhood such as Lowell. Finding a lender that is familiar with the programs available federally and locally is essential. One lender that is working to qualify potential buyers in the Lowell Community is Ryan Wilson (559-999-8930). Another very important component to home ownership is finding a Realtor that is familiar with Lowell and the Revitalization efforts of the City of Fresno. The team of Frazier Realty & Investments is currently tracking the Lowell Community and is making every effort to bring potential buyers into this historically beautiful neighborhood. They can be reached at 559-435-2836. In a community that is so rich in historically significance and cultural diversity, home ownership is a secure investment. Coupled with a location close to downtown and centrally located, this investment could become a real asset for the people of Lowell. As Michael Sherraden points out in his book titled Inclusion in the American Dream: Assets, Poverty, and Public Policy, "One of the pillars of America’s founding is the right to own property, with assumed benefits accruing to families and communities. Despite this bedrock social philosophy, there has not been an integrated effort to study effects of asset ownership. This is changing now.” (p. 396). Revitalization is synonymous with home ownership. The key is to qualify those that can to own their American Dream. Works Cited
Belsky, Eric S. (Editor); Retsinas, Nicolas P. (Editor). Building Assets, Building Credit : Creating Wealth in Low-Income Communities. Washington, DC, USA: Brookings Institution Press, 2005. p 1. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/csufresno/Doc?id=10120612&ppg=17
Sherraden, Michael W.; Sherraden, Michael (Editor). Inclusion in the American Dream : Assets, Poverty, and Public Policy. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, USA, 2005. p 396. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/csufresno/Doc?id=10233761&ppg=419
Tim Kumse
Since 1998 Market Creek Plaza, located on a 20-acre lot that was once an abandoned factory, has been being developed by the community, with outside help, to enrich the lives of the people around it and to help build a sense of pride for the community. This 20-acre lot falls right in the middle of what are known as the diamond neighborhoods, “Named for the areaís diamond-shaped business improvement district” (Diamond Neighborhood). This area does not support the wealth that is typically associated with San Diego, and was in need of some major revitalization. The idea behind the Market Creek Project was to revitalize the neighborhoods, with direct help from the community in order to instill a sense of involvement and ability to make a change. While examining this project, it is hard not to see some similarities between the area involved with the Market Creek Plaza project and the Lowell neighborhood. Both of the areas being majority lower income minority families who do not feel like their ideas and opinions matter, but they do. Through dedication and determination, the project was completed, and with the project came a partnership between the residents and their community, new jobs and skills that otherwise would not have been attainable, and a roadmap to success that can be used to help other areas dealing with the same type of issues. The Market Creek Plaza project began as a partnership between the area residents and the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. The idea of the project was to get the neighborhood residents to be involved in the rebuilding of their neighborhood. One method they used to achieve this goal was to have residents invest in the project, and therefore having a personal stake in the success of the project, as well as making a profit from revitalizing their own neighborhood. According to the Urban Strategies Council, based on information found on the Market Creek website, the initial “investment plan has given nearby residents up to a 20-percent stake in the enterprise – with the goal of transferring complete ownership and control within 12 years” (Urban Strategies Council, 2007). This was a key aspect toward the success of this project since they were able to receive community support, since the community residents were directly involved in the project. This project not only brought a sense of pride back to the community, it brought jobs. One of the biggest problems with lower income communities is the lack of job opportunities, or the lack of skills needed to be qualified for those jobs. The Market Creek Plaza project has attempted to help with both of those problems. Throughout the process of building, approximately 360 construction jobs with training were made available. Not only were the residents receiving income from this job, but also with the training they received, residents were starting down a path of new possibilities and opportunities of other employment. After construction was completed, the businesses that moved into the area were in need of employees, so yet again more jobs were being created. According to the Market Creek website, more than 1700 new jobs were created by this project alone. Since this development, the areas surrounding the Market Creek Plaza have began being developed from” mostly unused, untended properties into a $500-million "village" where people will live, work, and play” (Urban Strategies Council, 2007). One successful project brings hope to many other projects, which brings about a stronger sense of community, as well as much needed job opportunities for residents. From looking deeper into the Market Creek project, and hearing about the Lowell neighborhood, I have noticed that both areas have a common goal of bettering the community through the community itself. I would recommend expanding the scope of the target area with a project like this. It would be beneficial to the Lowell neighborhood if the project were to include a broader area with more neighborhoods, because it would have support from a larger group of people, and it would make it easier to get the support of the city and other investors to help get the project started. According to assetpolicy.org, there were four main building blocks that made this project a success which consisted of, outreach and relationship building early in the process, ongoing support for community participation in planning and implementation, building and leaving skills and capacity in the community, and designing direct ownership mechanisms (Robinson, 2005). In order to build relationships early in the process, the Jacobs Center initiated communication with the residents in the surrounding communities before they even acquired the property. They asked the residents how they would feel about the project, and what they would want out of this project. The Jacobs Center also held meetings that the residents could attend at the site of the project. The Jacobs Center also brought local business people in to oversee the business development of the project, which helped gain support from them, as well as gave the project access to the knowledge and expertise of those people. Ongoing support for the community was achieved through “creating and supporting ongoing community teams that involve residents in substantive work on the project, utilizing methodology that facilitates learning and decision-making, and valuing residents' time and knowledge” (Robinson, 2005). They made different teams for different areas of expertise such as art and design, construction, resource development, and childcare in order to give residents the option to be a part of a group that focuses on something that they enjoy doing, or have an interest in. In order to facilitate learning, they did not exclude people from helping to make decisions based on education level. If someone did not understand something about what was going on, the Jacobs Center representatives took the time to help him or her understand. Finally, they appreciated the residents’ time and expertise. Some residents who were involved in day-to-day activities were even given a stipend for the time that they put into making the project successful. Building and leaving skills in the community was a major goal for the project. Not only through job creation from the project itself, but through programs designed to help the community residents continue to grow. An example of a program they introduced was a Mentor-Protégé program in which during the day the contractors would work on the project and at night, they would receive classes to help with their business savvy. There are also other programs designed to help the residents grow as individuals as well as a community. Through the skills gained by the process, the residents will have the ability to achieve success in their community. The last step in the process was to turn ownership back to the community through direct ownership mechanisms. The community members would be able to purchase shares in the project, at a reasonable cost. They also created a neighborhood foundation that would help in facilitating community ownership. “A locally-controlled foundation, it will hold an ownership stake in the development and receive a portion of the profits for the funding of neighborhood improvement projects. To help shape its future, a new community research team has completed over 500 interviews in “living room” meetings with residents” (Robinson, 2005). This directly will show effects in the community, and it gives the community members the decision-making capacity to make decisions on what their money goes toward changing in their community. By examining how another community that was faced with the same types of issues, handled those problems, the Lowell neighborhood may be able to take some of the same ideas and use them to move in the direction of change. If they were able to get the community involved, and working together, the possibilities are endless. Looking at the changes made to my own neighborhood, I feel that the same ideals used in that situation, could be what are needed to help someone in the Lowell neighborhood see the same types of changes. BibliographyDiamond Neighborhood. (n.d.). Retrieved from Market Creek Plaza: http://www.marketcreek.com/mcp_diamond.html Robinson, L. (2005). Market Creek Plaza:Toward Resident Ownership of Neighborhood Change. Retrieved May 2010, from http://www.assetpolicy.org/files/File/Asset%20Support%20Center/MarketCreekPlaza.pdf. Urban Strategies Council. (2007, may). SAN DIEGO’S MARKET CREEK PLAZA. Retrieved from A community investment in a signature economic development project : www.urbanstrategies.org/.../MCPoverviewforUrbanStrategies.doc Patrick Darnell The Lowell Plan The Lowell Plan has been developed to revitalize a Historic yet severely run down South Central Fresno Neighborhood. This plan looks at the major reasons for its blight and what continues to plague it. The plan details the different steps that are necessary to assist in the revitalization of this historic neighborhood. There are some changes or revisions that could be made to the plan that would not only speed up revitalization but actually make it possible. The Lowell neighborhood is not unlike any other rundown neighborhood in America. It has several of the same ingredients that all of these neighborhoods have. There are three key ingredients; neglect, lack of ownership (or proper ownership), and lack of desire. All three of these are able to be overcome, with desire being the most difficult. In the next paragraphs I will go over these three ingredients and what other neighborhoods have done or are doing to overcome them. The first is neglect. Neglect in a neighborhood starts with the attitude of the city. The city needs to have a growth plan that will keep the older parts of the City in its core and not migrate too much to one direction. Fresno is a north migrating city that has left several neighborhoods one generation after another in neglect. By controlling growth and or limiting it, you force developers to keep reinvesting and developing within the city core. The city of Visalia has done a good job of keeping its main retail shopping district in the center of the city on Mooney Blvd. Neglect can also be stopped by upholding all of the code enforcement laws and using the legal limits of the law that the city has at its disposal. By forming communities that have their own districts to aid in these code enforcements. The second is lack of ownership or proper ownership. In most areas if the properties are tenant owned they remain well taken care of. When you have a neighborhood that becomes primarily rentals, you start to have a slow deterioration of the neighborhood. You begin to have landlords that no longer invest in the maintenance and up keep of the property because they no longer feel it is worth investing in a property that is losing its luster. The third is desire. People generally have a desire to live in a community for one reason or another. Most people do not seek out the worst neighborhood in town to purchase a home. They will seek out schools, shopping, commute, safety, structural personality, etc. There are neighborhoods within Fresno that have had a desire about them for decades, such as Old Van Ness and Fig Garden. These neighborhoods will continue to be desired as long as they continue to be given the attention that they need. The hard part of revitalization is recreating that desire. Trying to get people to reinvest in an area or move into an area that is least desirable does not happen. While researching I particularly wanted to find ways to reverse or change these three ingredients for the positive. With most revitalization projects they take years. This makes sense because most rundown neighborhoods took years to get in that situation. The Lowell project needs something to jump start it and get it going, to bring attention to the situation and let everyone know that we are serious. In Detroit they are suffering from a glut of rundown dilapidated homes. The City has taken a stance to go after the owners of these homes to bring them to code or they will demolish them. The City of Detroit intends to demolish 450 homes in 45 days and 10,000 in this mayor’s term in office. The homes that will be torn down are unsightly, unsafe, and attract drugs, gangs, and crime. By demolishing these structures they are getting rid of blight and a place to promote crime at the same time. This will give Detroit a chance to pick up the pieces sooner and move forward. Several of these homes are owned by slum lords who no longer wish to fix their properties and remove the code violations. In Lowell there are several structures that are classified as Historic. However there are several that are not or are in such disrepair they are unsalvageable. The city could take the approach to start eliminating those homes that are vacant and are havens for crime. Then turn their attention to the occupied homes that are in need of serious repair or major code violations. They can take the same steps with these homes. This will let slum lords know that we are serious about the problem. This will give the jump start that is needed to accelerate the changes needed in the Lowell project. Once this has been completed the committee can identify the streets in the neighborhoods that they would like to save. This can be done by relocating the historic houses that remain to the streets or areas that are set to be saved. At this point there will need to be attention brought to the area that is left vacant. This will need to be developed into a thriving retail center that has architecture to match the area along with chain stores brought in to provide local shopping. This center needs to be a place of not only necessity but entertainment. There should also be a Police Substation that is located centrally and is available for all residents to visit. The local school will need attention. There will need to be volunteers put together to bring extracurricular activities and assist with improving on what the school already has. The school will need to become a focus of where the community starts rebuilding its self esteem. A community that can have pride in its school can start to have pride in its self. This neighborhood was developed with alleys when alleys were thought of differently. These alleys are no longer safe like they once were. They should close off and Gate as several other Tower District neighborhoods have done. This will help protect the current residents more and it will also move all traffic to the front of the house and will alleviate the need and cost to maintain an alley. These are the suggestions that I have found through research of neighborhoods that are working and neighborhoods that are going through or have gone through a revitalization process. The key is keeping the neighborhood in good condition and not letting it become in disrepair. But once it has you have to put together a plan like The Lowell Plan to bring it back. San Diego, California. Market Creek Plaza 10 April, 2010 http://www.shopmcp.com San Diego, California. Market Creek Plaza 10 April, 2010 http://www.marketcreekplace.com Detroit, Michigan. City of Detroit Government 10 April, 2010 http://www.detroitmi.gov Fresno, California. City of Fresno Government 10 April, 2010 http://fresnodowntownplans.com Tyler J Nesgis There are so many problems and issues that are affecting the Lowell neighborhood in Fresno, CA. I have decided to spend some time educating you on a very important issue that is an overwhelming factor in this once successful community. The Lowell neighborhood in Fresno, CA was at one time a booming, successful area rich in history and culture. Over the past couple of decades the success has been declining and most of the 14,000 residents have been forgotten and left out. This specific community lives in poverty, and the disadvantages include; market disinvestment, uneducated families and low-performing schools, high crime rates, and high added costs. Each topic seems to be important but one just jumps at me the most and that’s education and low performing schools. I was raised knowing that education is vital for the success we want to achieve and when it’s not there or poorly implemented then we have a huge problem. For this project, I want to look at the cause of poor education and low-performing schools and get a better understanding of how this problem is affecting the community and find the right solution in order to fix it. The relation of education to a young person’s economic well-being and satisfactions later in life has long been recognized by most families. Education has also come into its own among economists as crucial to the dissemination of knowledge with the reawakening of the field of economic growth. Knowledge for development has also become a central theme for many economical development agencies. (Walter W. McMahon) I would also like to look into this overwhelming problem and see how it relates to real estate development. Through this research project I hope to find a solution that can be proposed and later implemented so we can fix this education problem. Developers aren’t going to be interested in developing this part of Fresno because of the poverty level and the unattractive sight that is present there today. Education plays a huge role because without these residents knowing the right path in becoming a successful developed area, then nothing will be done. It takes local development and construction companies to take interest in giving back and helping a community of poverty become a rich thriving part of town that it once was. Now I want to take the time to discuss the education problem that the Lowell Neighborhood is facing today. As we see in the graph above the population by education in this neighborhood consists mainly of high school graduates, some bachelor or associate degrees and very little graduate degrees. Reasons for this could be due to the lack of motivation to achieve a higher education, bad or lack of parenting, and the lack of money available to achieve a college degree. A college degree could greatly benefit each citizen in this neighborhood, because the more knowledge you have, the more income you receive, the greater the probability the land will be developed. In this graph to the left we can see the income levels in the Lowell Neighborhood and the direct relationship has on education. Now that we know exactly what the education crisis is in this Lowell Neighborhood, we need to find a solution for the community and implement it in this community in order to fix this problem. You would think that education would be top of the list in order to make this community thrive as it once did, but you would be surprised. I hope that this community can view education as a very critical part of success in order for future development in the way it once flourished when it once did in the past. Daniel Gonzalez To: Business Owners of Belmont Street Between Chestnut and Hwy 41. In accordance with the Belmont Merchants Association (BMA) to revitalize the areas along Belmont (between Chestnut and Freeway 41) I want to implement some proposals that will help establish permanent changes within the surrounding areas and neighborhoods. With these proposals, different aspects of city street improvements will heavily be emphasized as a prime sector of revitalization. In attempts to improve the areas along Belmont both economically and with the architectural appeal, I propose obtaining permits for multi-floor buildings. This will lead to better lighting system along Belmont and outdoor sitting for restaurants, and larger businesses might be more attracted to the area. The construction of curbs along the whole Belmont area and setting up large arch-like lighting systems along the Belmont area will invite people to a more of a “City walk” appeal. We want people to feel secure walking along these streets to enjoy the day as well as the nightlife along Belmont. With the cooperation of the BMA members, developing multi-floor buildings and allowing other businesses to lease the second or first floor of the buildings will attract more people to the area. Freeway 180 is parallel to Belmont, allowing Belmont to be more visible to those driving along the freeway. Southeast Fresno has been longstanding with high crime rates, concentrated poverty, and low public interest. As a native to this area, I am familiar with these characteristics that the public have placed amongst the Belmont area. Before setting forth any improvements with construction of the area, we need to remodel the appearances of the local businesses. Since Belmont is known for its array selection of automobile maintenance services, this causes the area to have a certain “run-down” appeal. I noticed many businesses had car parts laid out in an unorganized manner. With more order, the area can become more inviting to people especially younger crowds. Bringing in the younger crowds to our area can increase the revenue for local businesses. Inviting a diverse amount of businesses to the area will attract more people, although it might seem to bring more competition to local businesses it might actually do the opposite. Multi-floor development will help to diversify the commercial area. Leasing out the buildings to an Italian, Korean, Indian restaurant can benefit the bars and other local restaurants. The ambience of a multicultural presence will bring excitement to the area. Other restaurants will attract more people to the local business like “Rios de Agua Viva”. In accordance with the building codes, the development of two-story buildings can have a huge impact on increasing crowds to the area. Improving the sidewalks will also allow many to venture the streets a lot more safely. An investment of a better lighting system will also help the crowd stay out longer. With more crowded streets this can also decrease the crime by bringing in more focus to the area by local authorities. Re-establishing the image of Belmont should be a high priority, keeping the streets clean and remodeling Belmont could be a good start to revitalize the community. The development of multi-story buildings will allow more businesses to come in and help the overall success of the neighborhood. Taller buildings are also more appealing and can attract the youth to bring excitement to the businesses on Belmont. In the future Belmont Street can hold special events like car shows, food tasting carnival, and other events to help give a spark to the neighborhood for long-term success. Finding the right area to begin developing a multi-floor building would most likely be a corner lot. 4505 E. Belmont is for sale with a listing price of 289,000 with a lot size of 14,375 sq. ft. from Fresyes Realty. Purchasing and developing more of the multi-floor buildings on Belmont can become the beginning of Belmont residents to own property rather than lease or rent. Once developed, marketing the Belmont area is vital. Big Hat Day is an event held in Old Town Clovis that helps local vendors from Fresno and Clovis to advertise what their businesses have to offer. BMA can advertise as a community and show what Belmont has to offer. Permits for booths are approximately 300 dollars and is a two-day event done annually. In the future Belmont should become a community where local events like this can be held to attract large crowds. Eventually south of Fresno can take back some population that north of Fresno often holds. Although Belmont Street is far from the tower district, development closer to the south part of Fresno can create an extension of commercial hubs that can bring back some stable economics to Southern Fresno. Michael J Efird The Lowell District Project: Preserving History When I first began this assignment, I often found myself uninspired. I had no personal connection to the Lowell District. As a matter of fact, I’ve never even heard of the Lowell District prior to this assignment. It wasn’t until I personally visited to the Lowell District that I started to develop an appreciation for the area. There were beautiful large trees that shaded the streets that are lined with historically significant homes that date back to the early 1900’s. (www.lowellfresno.org) I actually felt as though I took a step back into history and at that point I knew that this area was much more significant to the city of Fresno than I had ever imagined. I truly believe that preserving the history of the area is vital to preserving the history of Fresno as well as improve the quality of life for individuals and families living in the Lowell neighborhood. In order to preserve the historical value that the Lowell District offers I am proposing that the district be classified as a registered historic district. There are many benefits to the Lowell district by being a registered historic district. By being a registered historic district the Lowell district will preserve its historic identity by enforcing a variety of rules and regulations imposed to preserve the desired characteristics of the neighborhood. Studies have shown that by creating a historic district you cannot only preserve the property values of the neighborhood, but you can also increase the property values. By doing so, the community will potentially take greater pride in their neighborhood as well as their community. With an increase in property values and greater community pride we also hope to see a decline in crime rates in the area. Although there are many benefits to creating a historic district, there are also some disadvantages that must be addressed. The increased regulation is often seen as a negative impact of a historic district to many. There are different steps that home owners in a historic district must take to approve certain projects on their homes that home owners in non-historic districts do not have to. Homes in historic districts often must fallow certain guidelines to preserve the integrity of the district that some people often feel are unnecessary. Although these negatives are certainly an aspect of a historic district, I personally find it rather obvious that the positives outweigh the negatives by a large margin. In addition to preserving the historical integrity of the Lowell District by registering the neighborhood as a historic district I would also like to see the neighborhood identify itself as part of the heart of the city of Fresno. The Lowell District has an unmistakable charm and charisma that I see is waiting to jump out and recapture the heart and soul of Fresno like it once did in the early 1900’s. I believe that by informing the city’s public of the historical significance and by inviting the public to visit the community, they will appreciate the significance and charm that the area has to offer. In conclusion, I believe that by getting not only the Lowell community involved but also getting the city of Fresno’s community involved will have a positive impact on the Lowell District. By converting this area into a historic district I believe that it will be not only beneficial to the home owners in the neighborhood, but also in surrounding neighborhoods as well as for local businesses in the district. It will also have a positive impact on the perception of downtown Fresno if the area was cleaned up. By converting the area to a historic district will help the community to take more pride in their neighborhood while potentially increasing their property values. Jenna Vander Weerd Creating Jobs in the Lowell Community I believe the best way to improve the Lowell neighborhood is to create jobs. This is a long-term solution to the problems in this community. Improving the diversity of businesses in this area will create these jobs and help stimulate the economy in this area. It would bring in people that wouldn’t normally be in that area. Businesses that might not want to enter into this area might be more interested if they could get small business loans through governmental agencies with low interest rates. The state of Maryland has a neighborhood business works loan program that “is the state’s premiere small business loan program providing competitively-priced, flexible financing for the costs associated with business startup and expansion” (neighborhood revitalization). Something like this might persuade business owners into helping this area succeed. Forty Nine percent of the population living in this area is not employed and of the employed the average income is $12,890 a year. The Lowell neighborhood is comprised of 5,460 people, 66.3 percent of them being Latino. 75.6 percent of them have not completed high school. Also, 86.9 percent of people living in the Lowell community do not own their home. Most renters are not interested in using their own money to fix up a home they don’t own. Instead they rely on the landlord. People who are employed and own their home generally have more pride of ownership and are more willing to keep up their home. This can happen to the Lowell community if they receive the necessary financing and help. The average age in the Lowell community is also 26 years old, which is an acceptable age to be in the workforce. Creating these jobs also help take care of a family. The American dream has always been to own your own home. “Many consider owning real estate to be a major step toward solvency, status, and a sense of socioeconomic security. Home ownership is synonymous with freedom, apple pie, and the "American way" in today's culture” (Articlesbase). Employment is very important for these people to be able to receive financing in order to buy a home. Lenders like to see at least two years of employment in the same line of work and steady income. This shows that you have the income to pay your monthly mortgage. Right now is one of the best times to purchase a home. Also, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers many programs that can help the Lowell community. The “Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds help strengthen communities by expanding affordable housing opportunities, creating jobs, stabilizing neighborhoods and improving overall quality of life”(neighborhood revitalization). They also provide assistance in implementing a Neighborhood Stabilization Program for a specific community. (Neighborhood Stabilization Program) Educating the people of the Lowell community of these programs and advantages of owning a home will also help motivate them into wanting these extra expenses and responsibilities. Some advantages of home ownership are a sense of security, no one can kick you out or make you leave as long as you are paying your mortgage and bills, and you can make necessary changes that you want. Also, there are financial advantages to owning a home such as tax benefits and even appreciation in the value of these homes once improvements are made. Becoming homeowners also offers a sense of stability for the Lowell neighborhood. The people living in the Lowell area will own a home there instead of having people constantly moving in and out. This is also an incentive to want to help the community improve. This community will become a home, not just a house and give them firmness and strength. Then the people living here will want to see more improvements. Many people need to be involved in this process and it will take time. With the city doing their best to help improve city buildings, create new development, and bring in businesses to create jobs, and the people of the neighborhood helping to improve their homes and streets, the Lowell Community can become the historic neighborhood we know it to be. Having everyone in the community participate and help one another can be a great way for everyone become involved and also get maximum results of improvement. Creating a new reputation for the Lowell Community will bring in future homeowners and business owners. All of these issues and topics can be addressed at the bi-monthly meetings with the Lowell Neighborhood Association. Professionals and business owners should be available to help the people understand and answer questions and to also give out information on U.S based programs for homes and communities as well as grants. Works Cited “Community Development Block Grant”. Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. n.p. 15 May 2010. <http://www.neighborhoodrevitalization.org/Programs/CDBG/CDBG.aspx> Del Vecchio, Andrew. “Real Estate: To Own or Rent?” Articlesbase. 26 September 2007. 15 May 2010. <http://www.articlesbase.com/home-security-articles/real-estate-to-own-or-rent-221237.html> “Lesson 2: Getting Money To Buy A Home”. Fannie May Foundation. n.p. 15 May 2010. <http://literacyworks.org/fmfhome/abe-teachers/08.html> “Neighborhood Stabilization Program”. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 15 May 2010.<http://hudnsphelp.info/index.cfm>
Kyle Torosian Redevelopments of blighted or impoverished sections of cities are becoming increasingly more popular, desirable and essential to the growth and development of cities. Many metropolitan areas like: San Francisco, Chicago, New York and recently the greater Los Angeles area have been forced to due this due to the lack of raw land. In other cities such as Fresno this is becoming more and more discussed not because of the lack of raw land necessarily. To combat urban sprawl the valley counties have undergone what they call the “Regional Blueprint Planning Process” whose the aim is to protect our agricultural economy and culture. The aim is to cap city boundaries and create denser populations. The idea is to build subdivisions with smaller lot sizes effectively constructing more units per acre. Many cities have found great success and rendered good profits redeveloping blighted communities due to the already established infrastructure, which saves the city and developers the cost of building new roads, parks, schools, police/fire stations, water, sewer, and power lines. Another benefit is modernizing old and poorer neighborhoods. My research pertains to the Lowell community of Fresno, California. To better understand any project you must first look at the facts and history that surround it before you can come to any conclusion, and create possible solutions. The Lowell community is one of the oldest areas of Fresno. In terms of location Lowell is directly north of Downtown Fresno, which was where all the civic and office jobs were located, and the area we know today as Calwa, which contained most of the manufacturing and farm packinghouses in the region. Highway 99, and the Union Pacific Railroad border it to the west, which provided shipping and mechanic jobs.. To the South is Tower District, which was the epitome of Fresno culture, cuisine, and nightlife. Early on Lowell was a vibrant and successful community that contributed to the overall success and growth of Fresno. For many years Lowell contained mostly hard working middle class families who would spend their weeknights and weekends enjoying the atmosphere of Tower District. Lowell is home to over 40 properties that contain historic structures that are of great historic importance to not only the history of Fresno, but California and even the United States. As chart five shows Lowell is a community with outrageously high poverty rates, and low median household incomes that are not even half of the rest of Fresno’s, or a quarter of California’s. One important aspect of the “American Dream” is owning your own home. Chart six shows that in Lowell that dream has not being realized with home ownership rates that are similar to the income data, far behind the home ownership rate for the rest of Fresno and California residents. With home ownership comes a term called “pride of ownership,” this is what happens when someone reinvest in their property due to the effects wear and tear has on property values. When you let the grounds deteriorate and let age take its effect your value and the value of the other properties in the neighborhood decrease. Due to the low rate of home ownership in Lowell you have 91housing, and 509 public nuisance violations, which is much higher than any other community in Fresno. Recently there have been studies done equating education levels to employment rates and income levels. For this research paper we will compare Fresno’s general population 25 years and older to Lowell’s using the data found on chart four. The data represents the number of people in the respective communities that have: no formal schooling or at least here in the United States; have gone to school but dropped out before acquiring their High School diploma; received their High School diploma but never went to college; and those that have acquired a college degree. What is discovered is that for Fresno a small percentage of residents have never gone to school, an equal percentage have either dropped out of school before receiving a High School diploma or have went on to receive a college degree, and that a majority received their High School diploma but after entered the work force. For Lowell it’s a different story, with the majority of residents having never gone to school, the next highest percentage is dropping out before receiving a High School diploma, and a small minority has achieved a college degree. Everybody knows that education is important to getting a good paying job or in this type of economy a job at all. As chart seven shows unemployment for Lowell supports that hypothesis with unemployment rates that are four times higher than that of Fresno and California rate, and five times greater than the national average for year end (one outlier that must be noted is the figure does not adjust for seasonal farm labor, which is what many Lowell residents call their profession). Data like this suggest that there is a strong correlation between education, employment status, and income. Lowell residents low level of education, and high poverty/unemployment rate. Have contributed to a report by the Daily Beast, which suggest that the Fresno metropolitan area is the dumbest in all of America. In addition referencing chart 8 Lowell is the reason why Fresno has the highest concentration of poverty in United States. When looking at why Lowell has so much unemployment you have to look into three types of data. First is average commute times in Fresno. Chart two shows that nearly half of all people in Fresno have commute times between fifteen and thirty minutes, with the overwhelming majority having commute times of more than fifteen minutes. Chart three shows what means of transportation people employed in Fresno use to get to their place of work. The data shows that the vast majority of Fresno workers use a car to get to work, and of that most don’t carpool they take their own car. Coming in a distant second was walking or taking a bike, third was working out of your own home, and last by far was using public transportation such as FAX. Finally chart one shows the number of cars owned in a household by ownership type. This chart suggests that most all households that are occupied by their owners possess a car with a majority having two or more cars. For renter occupied households it’s a different story, with the number of households not owning a single car significantly higher, owning one car the majority, and owning two or more cars drastically down from owner-occupied homes. What this data shows is that owning your own car is essential to finding a job in Fresno. This is due to two main reasons. First is the relative low population density in Fresno, and that there is no epicenter of jobs in Fresno. Everything is spread out which makes it hard to walk to work or carpool. Second are the inefficiencies of FAX, which make public transportation almost impossible to rely on. The results show that a good number of people that rent their residence don’t own a car, and that the majority doesn’t own more than one car, which is shared between the family. That being said when you look at Lowell and find that eighty-three percent of the households are renter occupied, have incomes that make it hard enough to support their families let alone own a car you discover a key contributing factor to the unemployment rate. Now that all the history and data has been presented we need to come up with solutions on how to revive this community and bring prosperity to its residents once again. For the Lowell neighborhood it is essential to create well paying jobs within a close proximity due to the fact that the residents cant afford to own a car. The first step is restoring faith amongst the residents in Fresno that this area can be revived and rebuilt. There are three main areas that could create jobs and establish a self-sustaining economy in Lowell. First is the Resurgence of Tower District. As stated earlier Tower District is located just across the freeway from the Lowell neighborhood and was the heartbeat of Fresno for many years with Broadway like entertainment, restaurants, nightclubs, and freelance musicians. A few years ago Mardi Gras and New Years celebrations attracted thousands of people from the Fresno community. Since the turn of the century the community equates Tower District with the crime that has recently plagued the area. The Mardi Gras shootings, and New Years stabbings that occurred a few years ago and have kept younger generations away from Tower District. The first step in reviving Tower District is reducing the crime and making visitors feel safe. Second is creating a Fresno version of the San Diego Gas Lamp District, or San Francisco’s North Beach community. These communities are home to numerous bars, café’s, restaurants, and shops. All these things create jobs for the local residents from bus boys, cooks, bar tenders, servers, etc. Second is Chukchansi Park. The Grizzlies play seventy-two homes games a year there that have the potential of attracting between ten to fifteen thousand fans a game. One thing people desire when going to games are amenities such as restaurants, sports lounges, and shopping, things that would attract people that don’t even like baseball. For instance look at what AT&T Park did for the SOMA and China Basin neighborhoods of San Francisco. Before the ballpark went in China Basin was just run down piers and old fishing warehouses, now it’s an icon in the culture of San Francisco. With its world-class restaurants, numerous sports lounges, shopping, offices and apartments the area is a prosperous self-sustaining neighborhood. Lastly it’s the starting the long lost dream of revitalizing downtown. Revitalizing downtown will create numerous jobs that are close in proximity to the Lowell community. Jobs created could be: good construction jobs, sanitation jobs, civic or government jobs, and office jobs. Revitalizing downtown will create badly needed jobs for the area. In addition remodeling old buildings and building new modern buildings will increase the property taxes received on those properties as well as bring younger residents with higher disposable incomes. By targeting these three areas numerous jobs can be created around Lowell which will create better schools, and after school programs, decrease the unemployment rate, poverty rate, crime in the area, increase median household incomes and homeownership rates. Citations:
1.) City-Data.com. Stats about all US cities. April 10, 2010. http://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-Fresno-California.html.
2.) Lowell Neighborhood Associaion y Union de Familias. April 10, 2010. http://www.lowellfresno.org/slideshow
3.) FresnoBeehive.com. Fresno: The dumbest city in America. April 10, 2010. http://fresnobeehive.com/2009/10/fresno_the_dumb.html
4.) City of Fresno. Demographics at a Glance. April 10,2010. http://www.fresno.gov/DiscoverFresno/Demographics/Default.htm
5.) U.S. Census Bureau. People & Households. April 10, 2010. http://www.census.gov/
Mathew Curtis Lowell Neighborhood Proposal The Lowell neighborhood, located in downtown Fresno, was an area recently listed as number one in the nation for concentrated poverty. A study, by Alan Berube, refers to the Lowell community as an “extreme poverty neighborhood”, with 49.1 percent of the individuals in this community living below the poverty line (City of Fresno, 2000). During the past 50 years, this community has been neglected, which has led to not only blight, but has also been a direct contributor to the poverty that has consumed this historic neighborhood. Other contributing factors include: an increase in immigrant population, economic changes, and growth patterns. As a result, the neighborhoods are broken and rundown (City of Fresno, 2000). Recently, the city of Fresno has made the Lowell neighborhood its priority as it focuses on redevelopment of the downtown area; there have been many ideas proposed as to what should be redeveloped, specific locations, and how it should be accomplished. Personally, I think the Lowell neighborhood sits in a strategic location from a business perspective; it’s located next to a major railroad and is also bordered by two major highways. Ideally, I think that it would be best to try and develop businesses within the area that can benefit from Lowell’s setting as well as its people. Businesses that require low skilled labor and minimal education standards, while utilizing the railroad and highways surrounding the Lowell neighborhood, would be ideal. In a similar poverty stricken area in the south, the city decided to focus on developing businesses that would primarily benefit the citizens within the surrounding area. City officials realized that citizens were tired of seeing their tax dollars wasted; many felt that money was being dumped into redevelopment projects that inevitably resulted in dilapidated rundown areas, similar to the surrounding neighborhood. As a result, the city decided that what was truly needed was to employ the citizens of the area; this would enable them to be financially self-sufficient and give them the means necessary to improve their community. They decided that the area needed a nationalized/chain store that provided affordable goods. Historically, stores demographically located in impoverished neighborhoods tend to have higher prices in comparison to stores located in more prominent neighborhoods with a greater economic base. A study, by Chanjin Chung and Samuel L. Myers Jr., (2006) was an empirical analysis of grocery store availability and prices across inner city and suburban communities. Their results indicated that the poor who shop in non-chain stores pay a significant premium and have less access to chain stores. People who must walk to the store, often low-income shoppers, are limited by the distance they can travel and by the amount they can carry. Therefore, these shoppers may have a low value of time and are likely to make more frequent trips to nearby convenient stores or non-chain grocery stores. This study reveals that the biggest factor contributing to higher grocery costs in poor neighborhoods is that large chain stores, where prices tend to be lower, simply are not located in these neighborhoods. For example, Wal-Mart, a large national chain store, tends to locate in demographic areas that are predominately suburban, white in ethnicity, and have a median income level of $43,000. However, 59% of Wal-Marts customer base make less than $20,000 per year. (Blattberg, Hansen, & Singh, 2007). This would tend to lead one to think that such stores would be located within greater proximity to their primary customer base, but typically this isn’t true. To entice a large national chain, the city had to be willing to allow significant tax incentives, location/site assistance, and provide security. Ultimately, it was the citizens from the surrounding neighborhood who benefited the most. First, a significant amount of store employees were citizens from the local area. Second, the store agreed that they would train local employees and promote from within. This allowed people with limited skills and experience to receive on-the job training and opportunity for advancement. After 3 years, a significant amount of management and nearly all of the hourly staff were made up of individuals from the surrounding area. While the program did not solve all of the area’s problems, it was a step in the right direction in that it brought employment to the unemployed and provided affordable goods located within a reasonable distance from their residences. Science has proven that oil and natural gas are diminishing resources throughout the world. With a limited supply and ever increasing demand, it is a matter of time until the world will need alternative energy and fuel sources. Currently, the green industry is in its early stages of development and is poised for growth. An article, by The Associated Press, reports that solar power companies, wind-power companies, energy-efficient light bulb makers, environmental engineering firms, and others have expanded their work force by 9.1% over the past ten years. The green industry has added jobs at twice the national rate and given its potential for growth, there are abundant opportunities for employment within this industry. Additionally, President Obama has expressed his desire for alternative energy sources and has appropriated a substantial amount of stimulus money for the green industry. The green industry provisions include: $5 billion for low-income weatherization programs; over $6 billion in grants for state and local governments; and several billion to modernize federal buildings, with a particular emphasis on energy efficiency. The provisions also included $11 billion for “smart grid” investments, $3.4 billion for carbon capture and clean coal, $2 billion for research of batteries for electric cars, and $500 million to help workers train for “green jobs. Also, a three-year extension of the “production tax credit” for wind energy as well as a tax credit extension for biomass, geothermal, landfill gas and some hydropower projects (Galbraith, 2009). This type of stimulus can only benefit businesses within the green industry. I believe the city of Fresno needs take very drastic measures to entice green industry businesses into downtown Fresno. Generally, when companies are looking for a location to establish in, aside from the typical demographics, they typically seek out cities that offer incentives to locate in a certain area. As such, I believe ultimately that the success of the Lowell Neighborhood lies in employing its citizens. Through employment, citizens will obtain the means necessary to be self sufficient. Most importantly, I believe that people in impoverished areas need a means of employment and store that provides affordable goods. Also, community development organizations need to focus on creating and developing jobs within the green industry. The green industry is in its earlier stages of development and poised for growth. The federal government is providing assistance through stimulus money and the city of Fresno needs to make use of this opportunity. By developing businesses that employ local citizens and utilize the area’s assets for innovative industries, the Lowell Neighborhood could one day be a vibrant downtown neighborhood once again.
References
The City of Fresno. (2010). The Lowell Project. Fresno, CA: The City of Fresno
Chanjin, Chung. (2008). Do the Poor Pay More for Food? An Analysis of Grocery Store Availability and Food Price Disparities. Journal of Consumer Affairs. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3250/is_2_33/ai_n28754684/
Dempsey, Jack. (2009). Green jobs growing at twice national average. MSNBC/Associated Press http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31212185/ns/business-going_green/
Galbraith, Kate. (2009). Obama Signs Stimulus Packed With Clean Energy Provisions. The New York Times. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/obama-signs-stimulus-packed- with-clean-energy-provisions/ Small, Luis., & McDermott, Monica. (2006). The Presence of Organizational Resources in Poor Urban Neighborhoods: An Analysis of Average and Contextual Effects. Social Science Research, 1-29. Blattberg, Robert C., Karsten T. Hansen, and Vishal P. Singh (2006). "Market Entry and Consumer Behavior: An Investigation of a Wal-Mart Supercenter." Marketing Science, 25(5): 457-476.
Jose Alvarez Fresno has gone threw several renovations in several communities as well as other cities from different counties. When a city attempts to reconstruct a community, a lot of time and effort is necessary in order for that particular community to work at the city’s desired. Fresno has several communities in which it is trying to bring back to good standards, like the Lowell Neighborhood community, Belmont, and even downtown Fresno. Fresno is determined to reconstruct the Lowell neighborhood by informing the Lowell community what will happen with their support. Threw out this research I will focus on ways that the Lowell plan could do to help this community. I will base my research on ways that can become more attractive to other residents by implementing a nicer community atmosphere as well as a way that Lowell can bring new businesses to help that community. The Lowell community is a special neighborhood that is being targeted by many individuals as a bad place to live in, a place where crime is always present, a place where low-income families reside, and a place where no one wants to live in. the city is determine to change that image and make sure that, that impressions of Lowell is watched away. Fresno is trying to reconstruct a lot of houses that were hit hard because of foreclosures during this economy crisis that is hitting the nation hard. The city is focusing in bringing more attractions to the downtown area as they would like more people to visit downtown and make it a family attraction as it once used to be. With downtown in their mind, Tower District is another site that the city is focusing in bringing greater audiences, but what falls in the middle of downtown and Tower District is the Lowell Neighborhood that also would get work. With that in mind, there’s an example of a house that is about 86 years old at the corner of Franklin and Park avenues that’s being remodeled. "This home is proof positive that our efforts in the Lowell neighborhood, the downtown area, the neighborhoods that surround the downtown area are working& and let this be just one more example of what we can accomplish when we pull our resources together," said Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin” (ABC.com). This house is in the area around Lowell Elementary School, a neighborhood stricken by foreclosures. This is just one of the houses that the city is trying to fix up and resell again threw the city's Redevelopment Agency which is using the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds. Many houses within the Lowell neighborhood are just abandoned because of the area in which it is located but most importantly because low-income families can’t afford to pay for there houses. This is a neighborhood that holds a lot of low-income residents in which it makes it difficult for them to keep a stable job and help themselves in making their payment for their homes.
“Fresno received about $11 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development” (Sheehan). Fresno is just one of the many cities that are being helped by earning funds to reconstruct their communities. Another house within this neighbor went threw a new remodeling process, “a 3-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath home in the Lowell Neighborhood near downtown was also purchased with Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development” (Sheehan). These are just two examples of houses that are being remodel within the Lowell neighborhood and several more houses will go threw this change based on what the city of Fresno plans to do, to improve its neighborhood images. “Increased efforts in code enforcement, blight, housing renovation, bus shelters, decreasing unemployment and even simply sweeping the streets were highlighted to press and community members” (Business Journal). The city is looking forward to increase all of these demands to make Fresno and its communities a better housing experience for its residence. Donations to rejuvenate certain locations in different areas are being given so that these locations could look better. Fresno is just one of the many cities that cares for their neighborhoods and their famous locations like Downtown. With that stated, the city of Fresno has donated several hundreds of dollars to get these locations up again. Besides the city, theirs other businesses that are contributing their part and donating as well. “Bank of the Sierra has awarded Fresno Urban Neighborhood Development, (FUND) Inc. a grant in the amount of $2,500 to help it continue restoring neighborhoods in Fresno that have been hit hard by the economic downturn” (Business Journal). As this example explains we see that many want to help and even though this amount might not seem as a lot to rebuild a home, we can say that all of this rejuvenation process begins somewhere and Bank of the Sierra is just one of the many businesses that are doing there part in helping their local neighborhoods. Businesses in the Lowell neighborhood would really be a plus but does this neighborhood really have the space to build new businesses that would increase employment in that neighborhood or even to the residence of Lowell. Right now the Lowell neighborhood isn’t equipped with high consumer stores, grocery stores and so forth. What surrounds this neighborhood is family owned businesses that only require two or three workers to run these stores, and those coming from within the immediate family. Many of these businesses as well as the resident’s biggest fear is the crime rate that is surrounded by this community. The Lowell neighborhood community, by far has the largest crime rate in all of Fresno. If we were to compare the Lowell neighborhood to the city of Fresno or even the state of California we see that just this neighborhood alone has a higher rate than California or the city of Fresno combined. For example, per 1000 residents there are over 83 reported crimes in the Lowell neighborhood. This is a large number when you compare it to 64 for Fresno and 35 for the state. In order to make this neighborhood a success, crime is a big factor that needs to be solved. In the last meeting that the Lowell community had inside the Lowell Elementary cafeteria, chief Dyer gave a list of number of arrest that they had done since their last meeting. He said that there were 125 parole violation arrest, 109 probation violation arrest, 88 parole search and warrants arrest, 90 weapons, assault, & robbery arrest, 162 narcotic arrest, and 9 graffiti arrest. These are great numbers and a big plus to this community as officers are responding to the challenge of making this community a safer one for the Lowell residents. A lot more help is needed but this community is responding very well to all the challenges. With all of this in mind we can say that Lowell is a neighborhood that soon will see changes to its community but it sure will take time and a good portion of money raised or donated. Mayor Ashley Swearengin has spoke over the matter several times and she is determined to help as well as many local leaders from around the valley. The economy is hurting and Fresno can’t really say much about how the city is doing because it is down as well. The economy will soon pick up but for the mean time the city needs to do what it needs to in order to keep their projects going and one of those being the Lowell neighborhood. References Neighborhood Stabilization Program Unveils Latest Project in Fresno. ABC.com. March 15, 2010. http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=7328245. March 23, 2010. Lowell Neighborhood Association y Union de Familias. http://www.lowellfresno.org/. March 24, 2010. The Business Journal. HUD secretary gets look at Fresno revitalization. August 5, 2009. http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1335:hud-secretary-gets-look-at-fresno-revitalization&catid=91:government-a-politics&Itemid=771. March 23, 2010 Tim Sheehan. Stimulus funds help city, county rehab foreclosed homes. March 18, 2010. http://fresnobeehive.com/news/2010/03/stimulus_funds_help_city_count.html?storylink=misearch. March 24, 2010. Cameron Cairns The Belmont project is looking for ways to revitalize the community and start solving some of the issues that they have been having. A laundry list has been compiled on all the things that are wrong in the area and what should be done to fix it. The residents in this community have brought up issues that are affecting them. But where do they start and how should the issues be handled? In a report online called “Mapping the Assets of Your Community” stated that, “No matter what community you are talking about, or how big or small the community might be in terms of population, community groups that begin taking a hard look at their community by first documenting all of its problems, are already starting things off on the wrong foot.” (Beaulieu, J) What it does indicate is the best way to effectively address the challenges that face communities is to have a good knowledge of the resources available to work on local issues with them. The community needs to understand where they are now and where they want to be in order to fix their issues (Beaulieu, J) . In order for the Belmont project to be successful they need to choose what mixture of commercial businesses will have the biggest impact in that area. What does commercial development do for a community? A commercial development enriches the community by providing employment that produces new money to be spent within the locality. A healthy blend or mixture of commercial business within one area tends to be an anchors to draw more people into that area which causes new businesses to open to service this flow of new customers. A community with very little commercial development will not attract outsiders to drive through the area because there is nothing there for them. An area that offers people services like the River Park shopping center in Fresno has a great mixture of places to dine, shop, or go the movies. It is seen as a safe and popular place to spend time and money. Other stores have opened across the street like the Villaggio Shopping center, which offers a different mixture of commercial business than the anchor River Park. Both are doing quite well even in our recession. When you drive down Belmont Avenue you see a large number of boarded up houses and building that once were homes and businesses. There are mainly automobile related businesses that are closed at night and do not draw a large customer flow. There is not a mixture of commercial business let a lone an established site that attracts customers. The areas around River Park and Villaggio center draw large flows of customers creating new jobs and revenue to the community. This promotes a positive safe growing community that people will want to be apart of and enjoy. Other areas in Fresno are similar or even better but they all had to start with someone planning it from the bottom up and willing to take on a challenge. The Belmont project is different than River Park in one major aspect. River Park was built in a location that the city was expanding to and surrounded by undeveloped land. The Belmont project is trying to turn a slum area into viable safe growing community of commercial businesses that you would let your children go to after dark. This is going to be major planning project with a huge risk of failure. Bringing in more commercial development could help recapture the community and the standards of living in the Belmont Avenue area. The mixture of commercial stores that are chosen need to serve a purpose that tends to draw customers such as; Grocery stores, CVS, Walgreen’s, etc. many of the individually owned stores that provided these services have had to close and leave the Belmont Avenue area. The Belmont area needs a store like Fresh and Easy that will provide them with fresh, high-quality, wholesome food at relativity low prices. Fresh and Easy is a simplified version of your typical grocery store that is reduced down to size so it can be placed in areas that don’t have a lot of extra commercial space available. The company is able to offer low prices to their customers because they keep business cost down by various methods. Fresh & Easy stores use 30% less energy than a typical supermarket and utilize technologies like solar tracking skylights, automatically dimming lights, and LED lighting (O'Young, M). Another store that would have a huge impact on the area would be store that has a pharmacy. Residents need to have close access to pharmaceutical drugs that will keep them healthy. Walgreens has pharmacists on hand that can answer any questions that someone may have. They can order, refill, and pickup their medication at their local Walgreens. This will help stop the spread of flues and help boost the overall health of the community. A community that does not have a steady income sometimes lacks in the common health issues. This can be fixed with a convenient Walgreens that will not take up much space. In conclusion, planning the revitalization of the Belmont Avenue will begin with idea that a mixture of commercial businesses that produce new employment, customer flow, and a safe and clean shopping environment is the basic anchor for a successful project. Fresh and Easy and Walgreens will help establish a central market for that small community area and will help strengthen the surrounding businesses and residents.
References
Beaulieu, J. Southern Rural Development Center. Mapping the Assets of Your Community. Retrieved April 5, 2010 from website http://srdc.msstate.edu/publications/227/227_asset_mapping.pdf. Fresh & Easy Announces Opening Dates for First Four Fresno Area Stores (2009) PR newswire. Retrieved April 1, 2010 from website http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fresh--easy-announces-opening-dates-for-first-four-fresno-area-stores-70001617.html. Neighbor Works America (2010) Community Economic Development. Retrieved April 7, 2010 from website http://nw.org/network/comstrat/commEcoDev/default.asp. O'Young, M (2010). Fresh & Easy’s Lower Energy Bills Translate into Cost Savings for Customers. Retrieved April 11, 2010 from website http://www.gabreport.com/gabreport/2010/03/fresh-easys-lower-energy-bills-translate-into-cost-savings-for-customers.html. Steph, L (2009). Small-Town Grocery Stores Feed a Need Bigger than Stomachs. Retrieved April 1, 2010 from website http://www.ethicurean.com/2009/10/31/grocery-stores/. Talking Fresh and Easy Blog. (2010) Retrieved April 20, 2010 from website http://www.freshandeasy.com/blog/labels/good%20neighbor.html. Walgreens. (2010). Retrieved April 5, 2010 from website http://www.walgreens.com/pharmacy/?tab=Pharmacy.
Cameron Cairns and Mathew Curtis Certain families don’t qualify for the traditional home mortgages, and the dream of owning a home will never become reality under such circumstances. Often times, these families struggle to provide a safe living environment for their family, but they do what they can to survive. Many families in the Lowell community are experiencing these issues, and they don’t know where to turn for help. Instead of boarding up all of the homes and the banks foreclosing on them, maybe the community can come together and help transform this area into something better. Traditional loans are not a reality for citizens in communities like Lowell; mainly, because they will not financially qualify for them. As such, there has to be other programs and services out there for obtaining financing and other housing related services. This is where community development programs and organizations step in and make a difference. Currently, there are four programs that the city of Fresno uses as part of its Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The federally funded Neighborhood Stabilization Program is administered by the City of Fresno's Housing and Community Development Division. The City has contracted with four local developers/agencies to carry out the goals of the City for the NSP. The four agencies are Coalition for Urban Renewal Excellence (CURE), the Housing Authorities of the City of Fresno, the Fresno Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and 2M Development Corporation. Currently, the four agencies are involved in purchasing, rehabilitating, and re-selling of homes for eligible homebuyers (City of Fresno). In addition to the NSP, the city of Fresno administers a first time homebuyer programs that provides up to $50,000 as a silent second loan to eligible homebuyers. The program helps low-income families purchase their first home anywhere within the city of Fresno. The programs are funded by both State of California CalHome Program funds and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HOME Program funds. Also, the city of Fresno is interested in obtaining additional lenders who would like to participate in the program. Additionally, programs like the Self-Help Enterprises, The Calvert Foundation, Harlem’s Children’s Zone, and Bay Area Economics are other great examples of programs similar to the ones listed above. The Calvert Foundation seeks to maximize the flow of capital to disadvantaged communities in order to create more equitable and sustainable societies. They do this by creating innovative financial products and services, and make it possible for everyday people, not just institutions, to participate in financial instruments that directly serve communities. Currently, the Calvert Foundation has nearly $200 million invested in 250 community organizations in all 50 states and over 100 countries. Their portfolio comprises investment in a diversified mix of high-impact organizations whose missions cover a range of social causes and innovations, including affordable housing, microfinance, Fair Trade coffee, small business development, and the establishment of essential community facilities such as charter schools, daycare centers and rehabilitation clinics (Calvert Foundation). Self Help Enterprises (SHE) is an organization that is dedicated to self-help housing, sewer water development, housing rehabilitation and homebuyers programs in the San Joaquin Valley. The goal of the organizations is to help farm laborers and other low-income families fulfill the American dream of home ownership. SHE is a great recourse for communities that need help because they don’t qualify for the typical loans or has the best income available. Companies like this can help revive a community by a variety of ways. One way the SHE can help a community is through their housing rehabilitation projects. They do this because a lot of low-income family cant affords a new house and the homes that they can afford are run down and need a lot of work. The biggest key to making this type of project work is having a working relationship with cities and counties that connect with local leaders to help keep the plan on track. By keeping track of each county they will have a better view of how to use the available Federal, State, and local resources that are available for things like this. SHE will match limited resources that are given to the communities. This can only be accomplishing through teamwork. By working with residents, local government, and local agencies that will help identify need will help organize the development and help get funds to complete the transaction. Another approach that SHE has for working with communities is self-help housing. This allows families to work together and build their new homes in 10 months. Eligible families have a few hoops to jump through before they are able to qualify. They must have good employment, clean credit history and the ability to meet the labor requirements (website). Once a group of 10-12 families are compiled then the land is located and the process starts. The mortgage loans are secured by the USDA’s Rural Development Services, which also covers the other cost of SHE technical assistance. From here it’s the good old, hard work approach. The families will help out from start to finish. They will do approximately 65% of the labor. They will be taught all the skills that they will need to know from their construction superintendent. He/She will be there with them throughout the entire process so if there are any questions or problems he/she will take care of them. Some of the jobs that they families will do include; digging and forming the foundations, pour and finish concrete, frame the walls and install doors, windows electrical wiring and paint the inside and out. Some of the technical stuff like cabinets, HVAC, roofing plumbing, stucco, and flooring will be handled by sub contractors. Each house is built in stages and no one moves in until they are all finished. SHE has helped many communities around Fresno. From Kern to Stanislaus county SHE has made an impact on families and communities. Last December in Reedley CA, 11 homes were ready for the families to move in and enjoy Christmas together in their brand new homes. These homes were built by their own hands and they are very appreciated of what they did. The homes vary from three to four bedrooms, ranging from 1,205 to 1,350 square feet, with two car garages, front porches and covered rear patios. For Reedley this is phase 1 of 44 that will be built in the Orchard Estates II by May 2010 (Lingo, C). Currently SHE has five projects going. In Turlock they are in the process of building 22 new homes. Lowell could be next in line for 22 new homes if the community gets organized and starts contacting organizations like SHE. There are requirements that have to be made but it will be worth the long process and hard work. Self Help Enterprise is able to help over 100 low-income families a year, what they thought was once impossible. By having the families do most of the work they have no costs and that is their initial down payment. This idea of hard work can pay off with a great reward. To date, the Calvert Foundation, along with their investors and supporters, have helped to build or rehabilitate over 17,000 homes, create 430,000 jobs in the U.S. and in developing countries, and finance over 25,000 cooperatives, social enterprises, and community facilities. As such, community development corporations are necessary for successful redevelopment of areas like the Lowell Neighborhood. These organizations exist solely to improve the lives of low-income residents and impoverished people through housing, finance, and related programs and services. As such, community development programs, like the ones mentioned above, are necessary for successful redevelopment of areas like the Lowell Neighborhood. References Calvert Foundation (2010). Retrieved On May 13, 2010 from website. Http://www.calvertfoundation.com. Galster, George., Levy, Diane., Sawyer, Noah., Temkin, Kenneth., Walker, Christopher. (2005). The Impact of Community Development Corporations on Urban Neighborhoods. Urban Institute Research of Record. http://www.urban.org/publications/311217.html. Lingo, C (2010). Self Help Enterprises. Home for the Holidays - 11 Reedley Families Move In 4 Days Before Christmas. Retrieved on May 10, 2010 from the web site http://www.selfhelpenterprises.org/docs/Reedley_Sweat_Equity_Homes.pdf. Self Help Enterprises (2010). Retrieved on May 10, 2010 from the web site http://www.selfhelpenterprises.org/. Randy Jones The
Lowell Project There are several variables that can be attributed in the process of revitalizing a community. These variables, whether direct or indirect can affect the value of a home. Some of the more direct variables that can affect the value of a home are location, size, condition, etc. Indirect variables that can affect the value of a home can be viewed as a school district, infrastructure, surrounding areas, etc. So how does this relate to the Lowell community? The Lowell community is a community located within Fresno, CA. Fresno, CA has been rated number one in the nation in having concentrated poverty and, the Lowell community is among one of the most concentrated areas of poverty within Fresno. Being among the top of Fresno’s concentrated poverty areas, The Lowell community statistically is not fairing to well, in some major categories when trying to build value. According to the 2006 Brookings Institution Study, Lowell’s owner occupied housing is only 17 %, compared to the US national rate of 66 %. Individuals below poverty level in Lowell are 70 % compared to the US national rate which is only at 12 %. The amount of people who speak a language other than English in the Lowell community is 70 %, compared to the US national rate of 18%. Ultimately, in regards to real estate value and the revitalization process, the Lowell community has a lot to work with. So how do we turn things around in the Lowell community? Like anything else real estate related it takes knowledge, time, and a lot of patience. An aspect that I am going to specifically focus on for the revitalization process of the Lowell community is education. At any age acquiring a solid education provides one with a solid foundation to build upon, and by most is considered to be a vital part of success. Real estate related, as mention earlier, education indirectly affects home values. People are willing to pay a higher premium to be located near a good school or in a good school district. According to schooldigger.com a web site that ranks schools based upon there CST math and English scores, Lowell Elementary ranks 4985th of 5116 California public elementary schools. As a result of this, when potential residents are deciding on a place to live, the Lowell community has already taken a hit. However, there is a huge opportunity for the Lowell community to turn this around. The Lowell community has got the ball rolling in the adult education process. They have created an organization La Union de Familia that is growing more and more. They meet several times a year, to help inform people and make them aware of the situations that involve their community. Due to the fact that time is definitely involved in the revitalization process, it is time to get the ball rolling on educating the younger generations. The majority of residents both male and female in the Lowell community are under the age of 21 years old; with the largest amount being between 5-10 years old according to city-data.com. This is the age that most children attend elementary school. When further analyzing Lowell Elementary, I get the impression that the school is more focused on the children’s survival than their education. Granted different communities call for different standards; however, the standards of Lowell Elementary could definitely be raised a little higher. Akira Yokomi Elementary is a school less than 5 miles from Lowell Elementary. They share the same zip code of 93701, however, it ranks 2991st of 5116 California public elementary schools. Statistically speaking, when comparing both schools, Hispanics are the majority race and both student/teacher ratios were pretty similar. The only major difference is the distance between them. Don’t get me wrong being ranked 2991st out of 5116 is not amazing; however, this does show you that improvements can be made. Improving the educational standards at Lowell Elementary may result in hope for the future of the children, and for the community. The better prepared children are when transitioning from grade to grade, the more likely they will succeed in school and in life. In the end, we are trying to revitalize the Lowell community. A huge step in that process involves adding more people to its community that are able to contribute. There is no better place to start looking than in there own community.
Sources: http://fresno.k12.ca.us/divdept/cfen/NRC/LowellNRC.html#About Us http://www.fresno.gov/Government/DepartmentDirectory/DCR/NeighborhoodRevitalization/LowellProject2010.htm http://www.city-data.com/zips/93701.html Bryce Hovannisian
Belmont Merchants Association Deserves Control Belmont was once a thriving
area known as a weekend hot spot, but it has deteriorated over time. The
business owners on Belmont have established an association known as the Belmont
Merchants Association in order to revitalize the area they work in every day.
They are petitioning the city for construction programs to repair dilapidated
public sidewalks, fixtures, etc. The Belmont Merchants Association should have
control of the money they pay into property taxes to spend for the things they
think are necessary to recreate the Belmont that existed years ago.
Bibliography
Americas Most Miserable Cities - http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/06/most-miserable-cities-business-washington_0206_miserable_cities.html - last accesed April 25 California’s Economic Collapse - http://www.planningreport.com/tpr/?module=displaystory&story_id=1441&edition_id=114&format=html - last accessed April 25 Politicians Smother Cities - http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/03/17/politicians_smother_cities_104796.html - Last accessed April 25 Why Government Planning Always Fails - http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8831 - Last Accessed April 25 Joel A. Esparza Lowell Project
A major factor in any real estate development site is cleanliness. A dirty neighborhood tends to drive developers and future home buyers away and not only does it drive these potential buyers, but it brings the moral of the neighborhood down. For this reason is why a community based project to clean the neighborhood is proposed. Getting the community involved as well as local students who want to help out their community. The proposition consists of cleaning incentives for people currently living in the area. Grid Alternative is a non-profit organization that can be contacted in order to see if they can come out and help the communities. In order to get the local organizations to participate a big advertisement and person invitations should be provided to see if they can give time to help clean and by showing that local organizations care hopefully the community will unit and raise community moral. By beautifying the community investors and future home owners will look into acquiring land in the Lowell community hence making for a brighter tomorrow The first step in order to achieve our goal is to start going around the Lowell area and just start promoting a certain day amongst the people in which cleaning up will occur. Promoting can be done door to door or even with flyers posted around the neighborhood. Another thing that can be done in order to promote this renovation is to contact local realtors and see if they would be willing to come and participate. Construction companies are always looking for different ways to get involved with the community and are always willing to send out a few workers to make a difference. However a project is not just about the labor force, money is a must to make the promoting flyers and to help pay for the materials needed. An unconventional but very cheap way to get paint in order to paint fences and or houses is to go to the local paint stores and look at the mis-tinted paints that are sold pennies on the dollar. Even maybe talk to the local paint stores to donate these mis-tints. (Lopez: Interview) A new and upcoming assistant supervisor for Sherwin Williams has said that they have a lot of mis-tint paints that can and will be sold pennies on the dollar. (Lopez: Interview) He too has said he would like to be part of such an event because he likes to be involved with the community and likes to see people do well in life. Some fast food restaurants are always willing to participate in community events so it is possible to approach them in order to fundraise money to have funds to pay for the paper used for the flyers to bring water and other food supplies for the community. An option to the food issues is to have members of the community donate food if they cannot help out with physical labor. Another good resource for the labor force is to go to California State University Fresno and try to get various sororities, fraternities and honor societies to participate and give hours for community service and to help out their community. Many people attending Fresno State are local residents and want to see their community beautiful. Epsilon Sigma Rho Fraternity Inc. is a multi-cultural fraternity at Fresno State and they are always looking for ways to give back to the community and such an event is something they are willing to participate. Jason Samnang President of the fraternity has volunteered the fraternity to come and help out if the event goes through. Sigma Lambda Chi is a Construction Management Honor’s society in Fresno State and the President Julio Sanchez has also jumped on the opportunity to be part of another community involved construction project. Sigma Lambda Chi has already been part of a small project in the Lowell area and are familiar with the neighborhood, they are many students of many backgrounds and area all connected by the passion of construction and beautifying local neighborhoods. S.I.C (Students in Construction) is a club at Fresno State who is also construction oriented and are actively involved the community. Grid Alternatives is a nonprofit organization that has been around for many years. They specialize in helping low income families to obtain reusable energy. They install solar panels on homes that are adequate to support the weight of the panels. They help families reduce their daily electrical use and possibly sell electricity back to Pacific Gas and Electric. The solar panels are directly attached to the electrical panel which is connected straight to the Fresno electric grid. Grid Alternative has been contacted for this proposed project and response is being expected soon. After talking to Grid Alternatives it seems that they need to come out and start talking to the residents to figure out if the government incentives are applicable to them. In order to have these solar panels installed everything has to be up to code so it will be essential to make sure that all homes are legally built and up to standard. It has been proven that when a community based project has a nice catchy name, more people are willing to come out and participate. This project can be called Lowell Beautification Day. By participating in this Lowell Beautification Day realtors will be able to connect with the Lowell community and see the potential in this community. Realtors can be approached to donate a little for the cause as well. Sergio Esquivedez from Coldwell Banker has been spoken to and has agreed to come out and get involved with the community. Sergio is a young man who is growing within the real estate industry and has seen potential in the community and wants to help. He has spoken to all of his co-workers and hopes to get more involvement.
Esquivedez, Sergio Real Estate Agent; Coldwell Banker, personal interview; April 2010, Fresno Ca. Lopez, Alfonso Assistant manager; Sherwin William, personal interview; March 2010, Fresno Ca. Samnang, Jason President; Epsilon Sigma Rho Frat. Inc. personal interview; April 2010, Fresno Ca. Valerie Harper
How Do Owners of Rental Property Think A Critical Consideration for Residents of Lowell The Lowell neighborhood in Fresno, California is characterized by high-density rental housing1. In neighborhood meetings City of Fresno officials and the residents of Lowell continually focus on how the City can bring top down mandates, by doing inspections and issuing code violations, for increasing the quality of the neighborhood2. This type of action increases owners’ expenses to be in compliance, but it also increases the City’s administrative burden and brings discussion of increasing taxes. Increasing expenses and taxes does not encourage investment the neighborhood. Improvements to rental units and the Lowell neighborhood as a whole will be successful and sustainable only when the residents, not the City, mandate them through market forces. When investors, the predominant owners of property in the Lowell Neighborhood, value their real estate, they look at capitalization rates. Capitalization rates are a function of the amount of income produced less the expenses divided by the cost to acquire the property3. As part of this value analysis, investors consider their tax rates which are adversely affected by increased government action4. Increasing investors’ expenses, by increasing taxes or mandating repairs, drives down investor returns and disincentivizes investment in the owner’s property and the area in general. This is alienating rather than encouraging for current and potential property owners in the area. By acting through government forces, the Lowell Neighborhood Association is pushing away investors which will not improve the condition of the Lowell neighborhood. The strongest way to change a market is for consumers to demand change. Lowell residents can send a much stronger message by removing income (refusing to rent) from owners who do not fulfill their responsibilities than they can by increasing administrative expenses. Additionally, tenants can build good will with the owners by being professional, friendly, and direct with them. Tenants can make specific maintenance requests to their owners directly and keep the owner from having the pay the City to be the middle man. Tenants should document communication with the owner and follow up. It is important to remember that tenants are responsible for property maintenance too; owners are more likely to take care of their property when the tenant is doing their party. Landlords are business people and are often willing to negotiate for maintenance work to be done. A common arrangement is that the tenant will do the labor and the owner will pay for materials. This way the tenant gets a nicer place to live and the owner gets an improved real estate value and a happy tenant5. Returning to the notion of removing income from owners who do not comply, tenants should be prepared to move out when owners do not do what is right and often legally mandated. Tenants who are willing to move are in a much stronger position than those who are not. In evaluating repairs to make, or not to make, one landlord was advised by his property manager to “Skip it... The tenants aren't going to move if I don't replace it”, but with regard to the repairs requested by the tenant considering moving the property manager said to make the repairs because the tenants’ moving would be more expensive “If Will and Rose move out… I'll need to spend $800 to clean, repaint and recarpet their unit before [we] could rerent it, draining more profits”6. This thought process is fairly typical for landlords and property managers regarding repairs. When a unit sits vacant for a long period of time, owners consider two options: improve the condition of the unit or reduce the rent rate7. In this situation the owner must shift their focus from maximizing rent to minimizing vacancy loss. By refusing to rent from owners who keep their units below the legally or socially acceptable standard, Lowell residents can force landlords to improve conditions without government intervention. Real estate research confirms that apartment rental rate is a function of vacancy, and rate is inversely related to vacancy: as vacancy raises owners will reduce rates. Research further shows that factors on the demand side influence vacancy more than supply side factors, particularly after periods of over construction. We are in an opportune time period for renters to control vacancy and consequently rent rates because of the over construction in the valley from 2002-2006.8 Tenant recognition of the market is empowering and builds self efficacy9. Tenants should assert themselves as clients, and as people, to landlords. The owners of the property in Lowell are much more likely to respond positively to the requests of a tenant directly than to the ominous bureaucracy of the City of Fresno. In Newsweek’s June 2009 Capitalist Manifesto issue author Daniel McGinn describes how a long distance relationship with his tenants allowed him to accidently become a slumlord. He acknowledges without seeing tenants it is easy to ignore the financial hardships they face. The first time he saw his rental property and met his tenants he was driven to improve their living conditions. In his research he learned “[His] reaction to seeing [his] property and [his] tenants for the first time is common among out-of-state landlords who've visited their property”. By working on the condition of the Lowell neighborhood with landlords, rather than asking the City to intervene, the residents of Lowell will be more successful in their endeavor to improve their home, attract further investment, and feel in control over their lives.
Works Cited Coffeen, Vera. "Interview with Residential Property Owner/Investor." Telephone interview. 10 Feb. 2010. Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam, 2006. Print. Landschoot, Brian. "Interview with Residential Property Owner/Investor." Personal interview. 14 Apr. 2010. McGinn, Daniel. "How I Became an Accidental Slumlord." Newsweek 12 June 2009. Newsweek - National News, World News, Health, Technology, Entertainment and More... - Newsweek.com. Web. 19 May 2010. <http://www.newsweek.com/id/201838/page/2>. McMillin, Melville, and Richard Carlson. The Effects of Property Taxes and Local Public Services Upon Residential Property Values in Small Wisconsin Cities. JSTOR, 1977. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1239611?seq=2&Search=yes&term=calculation&term=real&term=rate&term=capitalization>. "Minutes- Lowell Neighborhood Association Meeting 7/13/09." Web log post. Lowell Fresno Blog. Lowell Neighborhood Association. Web. 21 Mar. 2010. <http://www.lowellfresno.org/Home/blog>. Robles, Elaine. "The Lowell Project Update." City of Fresno. Web. 09 Mar. 2010. <http://www.fresno.gov/Government/DepartmentDirectory/DCR/NeighborhoodRevitalization/LowellProject2010.htm>. Bryce Hovannisian
Incurable Case of Low Homeownership
In the Lowell area of downtown Fresno lies one of the highest concentrations of poverty in the United States. Un-coincidentally there is also a low home ownership rate which the City Of Fresno and residents of the Lowell area would like increase. Not only are their efforts weakened by a high concentration of multi-family residences, which are very unlikely to be owned by low-income families, but also the houses in this area have very poor appraisal values. These appraisal values make it very difficult for low-income families to secure loans on homes here. The properties in the Lowell area cannot appraise to their sale values because the former homeowners have trashed the houses or just lived in very poor and unsanitary conditions for the past couple of years. Take for example the property I purchased for my employer just blocks from the Lowell area, 442 N Clark St. The property history and MLS Listing sheet show the house was first listed for $45,500 but was only purchased for $38,000 after sitting on the market for two months. My realtor, Jorge Torres, informed me that the property was unable to appraise for offers contingent on financing due to the poor condition of the house as seen in the attached pictures, and because very unsanitary tenants occupied the property. After failing appraisals two times in two months the investors who owned the property finally decided to accept my non-contingent cash offer of $38,000. The property also could not appraise to the value investors are willing to pay. As you can see in the comparable properties report, the average price per square foot in this area is $35-$40. In the condition the hose was in at the time of sale, no appraiser could honestly believe the house was worth that much for a homeowner. If that were the case, why would I purchase this property for a few thousand dollars less than what the house would be worth in good condition? It is because I can make repairs much cheaper than homeowners because I have a work crew that can fix nearly any maintenance problem on a house. This house has OSB floorboards which are not allowed by building code, electrical violations, unfinished stucco, needs all new flooring, destroyed cabinets, has an illegally converted garage with fire damage, graffiti, an unfinished addition, landscaping problems, no covered parking, unstable fencing, an unfinished bathroom, and missing foundation vents. A contractor would charge over $10,000 to fix all of these problems, but by simply employing people capable of fixing these problems I can fix these in a week for about $5,000. That is with $1,000 to replace all of the floorboards, cover them for another $1,000, convert the garage back to a legal garage for $1,000 (also solving the problem of no covered parking), replace the entire kitchen for $400, paint inside and out for $300, and the rest can be fixed in a day with very little material cost. The real problem the Lowell neighborhood faces is that the properties cannot appraise to a high enough value for homeowners to buy them. Only all cash offers are being accepted because of the high cost to refurbish these unmaintained houses for homeowners. Investors with hourly employees save on contractor markups, allowing them to purchase these houses for higher prices than banks are willing to lend. This problem exists all over downtown Fresno and will not be solved until houses are too expensive for investors to buy and profit from. Jose Alvarez The Lowell neighborhood is a community that once was the place to live in. It was full of culture, historic houses, and the people that surrounded the Neighborhood were just so kind. Most importantly it was a well like community as it is located in the center of Downtown Fresno and Tower District. Over the years the Lowell Neighborhood has went in a historic decline with the dramatic incline in crime and houses being foreclosed. This community is filled with smart, intelligent individuals that all they ask for is for a safer community, one in which their kids can walk in with no fear of anything. A community where education is a priority and that the Lowell Elementary School needs to get the support of its community. Education in this area is at its lowest with very little individuals that have a high school diploma. Many home residents come from a low-income family where they barely have little or nothing at some points of the month. Many families want the best for their children’s in this life and the Lowell parents are no different, they to want the best for their young ones. In last months meeting (April, 2010) I happen to be present and take a look at what actually happens in these meeting with many city leaders. I was thrilled to see that this neighborhood gets a huge support from important people like the mayor of Fresno, Ashley Swearingen and Chief Dyer. One important concept that I notice from this community was that they attend these meetings, showing that they want a change and that by them attending, they know that they will see city leaders responding to their needs. The community is involved and this shows great character from a community that desperately wants a change and they deserve that change. Crime sure has been by far the biggest problem to all cities in this country but with this community we can say that the Lowell neighborhood itself tops crime rates in the entire city of Fresno as well as the state of California. The Lowell community would like to see more help from individuals in the community, as well as from organization. The Lowell neighborhood gets several help from several organizations that understand the need of helping the neighbor hoods that surround us. Bank of the Sierra is just one of the many businesses that have been helping the Lowell neighborhood. Bank of the Sierra donated a grant in the amount of $2,500 to help revitalize the Lowell neighborhood. It is businesses like these that show there support to a community that is in need to become that safe and caring community as it once was before. Another organization that joined forces with Lowell was the Anthem Blue Cross. “As Fresno County watches its unemployment rate rise to 14.6 percent, the need for local health and community services has never been more important” (Anthem Blue Cross). With unemployment rate in the country rising every month and a record setting increase in Fresno with its highest unemployment rate in history, a major concern in individuals is health matters. When families don’t have the income to take their children or themselves to the Dr. it becomes very hard for people to be healthy. Well that’s where Anthem Blue Cross comes in to play within the Lowell neighborhood. Families in the Lowell neighborhood were able to attend certain free health and dental screenings that were provided by Clinica Sierra Vista and Healthy Smiles during this economy crisis to help the Lowell residents in this aspect. Services like these are just great examples that help rejuvenate a community. Unemployment brings a lot of worries to family’s and neighborhoods and even to city officials because they try there best to provide jobs to all of these unemployed individuals but it is hard to lower that rate. If we look at the unemployment rate of Lowell we see that 49% of the Lowell population is unemployed and the yearly income that the individuals that are working acquired an income close to $12,900. Lets not say that the Lowell people are living in poverty but with ratios like these it is hard to say that they are good. With an income like this per year is not good, considering that most of the families in the Lowell neighborhood are renting and not buying their property. 87% of the families in the Lowell community do not own a home, and many would like to one day own there home. This community has a high number of Hispanics living here with the vast majority of them being Mexicans. Most of these Mexicans came to California with one goal in mind, to one day own their own house here in the states and live that American dream that everyone says. People from Mexico come to this wonderful country to live the freedom that we all have, to give their families a better life but when they land in a community like Lowell it is hard for them to buy a house. With that in mind we can see that Lowell has steps to clime and every single step begins with community support. Education is very important to this community because most of the families want a good future to their children. A California dream is something that all individuals want and hope that one-day they can achieve that. These are just some aspect that the Lowell people have in mind and hope that one day they can be resolve and that this community be a great one in all aspects to live in. |
Finance 180/183 Papers |