NorthCamden.Org

Thanks for the information.  It is clear that the project has been well thought out and much time has been invested. 

The one thing that I want to keep emphasizing is the community participation aspect of this process.  I was at the last steering committee and it was clear that from the surveys, that very few people have given input to the process.  Also, many people at the steering committee don’t live in North Camden–they are not residents but representatitves of organizations that either are in North Camden or want to be in North Camden.  Again, I think this speaks to the transient nature of the neighborhood and I  continue to feel challenged by how this reality is taken up in the plan.

I want to highlight this dynamic and have us pause and “make sense” out of why this is.  Why is it so difficult to have true community participation?  And more importantly, in developing a plan that emphasizes a “community-driven process” can we really call it this if so few people are participating?  Or are we saying that  we have “tried” to involve people and thus it is community based?  I am not trying to be critical, but rather constructive for “the sense” that I make out of this is that we need to spend more time building community before we do community planning.  There needs to be some real networking done—again, a projecte or series of projects that would link people and get them involved would be great.  Otherwise, I fear that we will end up with a plan that will be driven by the few in the name of the many.  That isn’t my idea of community building. 

Here is a concrete proposal:  Let’s spend six months actually working to create community in small sectors of the neighborhood–to create connections, relationships and to find out what folks want to do about their specific block.  I think one easy way to do this will be to use the new DCCB online quality of life mapping site.  Wouldn’t it be great to get four or five groups–say one around CLH, Holy Name, the community center, Northgate, front street, 7th and State—and to have them simply work a couple block radius from their center?  What would it take to do this?  SImply identifying some folks/organizations from each area and beginning to meet in small groups—let it grow.  I think we would see lots of results and this would begin to build an apparatus for planning. 

Just some thoughts. 

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The short answer to your question is that what you saw in the December meeting is as far as the planning process had gotten to-date. There will be a fourth public meeting next Thursday, January 17th at 6:30 at the R.C. Molina Elementary School during which we’ll hear more about the recommendations that the planning and park design consultants are developing. These ideas are based on the past five months of neighborhood analysis, meetings, interviews, surveys and focus groups. The consultants are looking to the community for feedback on whether their recommendations are on the right track and make sense for North Camden, so participation is very important.

I’m also going to give a long answer that provides some background on the planning effort, its goals and on the process itself.

Who:

Save Our Waterfront (SOW) was founded in 1990 to serve as a coalition for individuals who live, work, worship, or are affiliated with non-profit organizations and institutions active in North Camden. Save Our Waterfront was created to serve as a coherent voice for North Camden and played a key role in spearheading the creation of the original North Camden Plan which was published in 1993. SOW was designated to play a coordinating role for the implementation of the plan as well.

Today, SOW is coordinating the effort to update the neighborhood plan to reflect current conditions, opportunities and threats facing North Camden. Save Our Waterfront is working with a broad range of community stakeholders and residents. The planning process is being guided by a steering committee that meets monthly and is composed of representatives of North Camden organizations, residents and the City of Camden. Some of the North Camden organizations, churches and businesses that have become engaged in the process so far include:

• Camden Bible Tabernacle

• Camden Lutheran Housing

• Camden Town Civic Association

• COLT

• Cuts and Curls

• Fair Share Housing

• Grace Lutheran Church

• Holy Name

• Hopeworks N’Camden

• Lutheran Social Ministries

• My Brother’s Keeper

• North Camden Schools

• Pyne Poynt Marine Services

• Respond Inc.

• State Street Housing

• Volunteers of America

Some of the other key stakeholders who are involved include:

• City of Camden, Department of Planning and Development

• Camden Greenways Group

• Camden County Parks Department

• Cooperative Business Assistance Corporation (CBAC)

• NJ Conservation Foundation

• Camden City Council ( President Angel Fuentes)

The Consultants:

Interface Studio is the planning consultant developing the neighborhood plan and at the same time in a coordinated effort, Wallace, Roberts, Todd (WRT) is the landscape architecture firm that is developing a waterfront park plan.

Cooper’s Ferry Development Association is providing technical assistance to SOW based on its expertise with waterfront and park planning and development as well as fundraising.

What:

The goal of the updated North Camden plan is to serve as a neighborhood-based roadmap for community revitalization. The plan is to be comprehensive, like the 1993 version, and address housing, economic development, open space and recreation, human and social services, transportation, infrastructure and more.

In terms of physical development, there are three major parts of the planning effort:

1) Core Neighborhood: There will be a revitalization strategy for the existing built part of the North Camden neighborhood which is primarily filled with blocks of homes. SOW has set a policy that there will not be use of eminent domain of owner-occupied homes, so the recommendations will be based on a strategy of rehabilitation and infill development.

2) Riverfront Park: The plan will include a linear park, or greenway along the Delaware River, the length of the neighborhood, from the Ben Franklin Bridge to the Cooper River. This will provide recreational opportunities and connect the neighborhood to its riverfront.

3) New Development Area: Between the existing core neighborhood and the future park, there are acres of vacant land, some of which have environmental problems. The plan will include a vision for new development in this area. The goal is that there will be a smooth transition from the core neighborhood to the new park with the existing street network extended out towards the river, so it all feels like one unified neighborhood.

This new development area opens the opportunity for new investment in North Camden. SOW is committed to doing “equitable development” that will have inclusive housing to create a mixed-income neighborhood and that new development have benefits for the entire community.

Why Now?

The updated plan will also reflect larger trends that exist within the City of Camden and the region that present potential opportunities and threats for North Camden. These trends underline the importance of updating the neighborhood plan.

• The City of Camden committed to supporting the completion of a neighborhood plan in North Camden before redevelopment plan is done. Any redevelopment plan in the future should be based on the neighborhood plan allowing the community, in cooperation with the City, to generate the vision, rather than a developer.

• The Riverfront State Prison is old and obsolete. It is likely to be relocated within five years. This will open up a key piece of waterfront land. SOW wants to insure that a high quality plan is in place to create a park along the North Camden waterfront and that the new interest by developers that will likely emerge when prison relocation is announced will be controlled by the community, in cooperation with the City.

• On the downtown Camden Waterfront, adjacent to North Camden, development is moving along. $750 million of additional new investment-virtually all of it private—will occur within the next eight years. As this could also increase developer interest in North Camden, it is important to have a plan in place.

The process:

SOW is committed to a community-driven process. In addition to the public meetings described below there have been focus groups, interviews and surveys conducted around North Camden. Here is an overview of the three public meetings that have taken place so far.

Thursday, October 18th, 6:30PM at Northgate II community room

Kick-off planning meeting with the planning consultants. Interface Studio and WRT.

Explained the goal of creating a vision for the North Camden neighborhood that builds upon the 1993 North Camden Plan and incorporates the idea of a waterfront park, or greenway. There was a discussion of what was accomplished and what was not from the 1993 plan. There was an activity at the end of the meeting for residents to mark their favorite and least favorite spots in North Camden on maps.

Thursday, November 15th at 6:30 at Grace Lutheran Church

Interface Studio presented their neighborhood analysis – the results from community surveys, focus groups and interviews, along with analysis of the physical, social and economic conditions. There was a break-out visioning session at the end of the meeting to give community members a chance to creatively participate in the planning process.

Thursday, December 20th at 6:30 at Pyne Poynt School

Interface Studio and WRT presented their work to date. After a brief overview of the neighborhood analysis, Interface Studio presented a series of initial ideas for the plan that were organized under seven themes: 1) Information is Power, 2) Focus on families, 3) Protecting the core neighborhood, 4) Reconnect North Camden, 5) Reach for the River, 6) Laying Foundation for Change, 7) Organize to Implement.

WRT presented the proposed park boundaries and examples of different types of parks to help people envision what they would like in a new waterfront park.

MEETINGS SCHEDULED (Please Come!)

Thursday, January 17th at 6:30 at R.C. Molina Elementary at 6th and Vine Street

The planning consultants will present their preliminary recommendations for the North Camden Plan and waterfront park plan, which are starting to come together. This is an important opportunity to hear about the recommendations that Interface and WRT will be putting together into a planning document based on data and physical analysis and on what they have heard from people in the neighborhood. It is very important to get reactions, feedback and questions to these proposed ideas to make sure that the plan makes sense for North Camden and reflects the goals and potential of the community.

Thursday, February 21st at 6:30 at Holy Name

This meeting will be the culmination and celebration of six months of hard work by the community and consultants to create a vision for North Camden’s future. The consultants will provide a final presentation on the updated North Camden plan as well as an action plan for implementation.

Then the real work begins! Please get involved. Contact Veronica Polo at 609-502-6048 or Rod Sadler at 856-966-1352 or email sow.camden ‘at’gmail.com