NorthCamden.Org

Beginning in the summer of 2007, the local community organization in North Camden named Save Our Waterfront (SOW) initiated a comprehensive seven month planning exercise for the entire neighborhood of North Camden. The planning process included resident surveys, interviews, focus groups, and public meetings throughout the community. The goal was to provide a long range vision for the future of North Camden based on the input of neighborhood residents and stakeholders as well as an implementation strategy that would serve as a roadmap for community revitalization. At the unveiling of the updated neighborhood plan in April 2008, the plan provided a broad array of recommendations pertaining to housing, economic development, traffic circulation, human services and capital, and open space.

As the plan moved into the implementation phase, numerous challenges were cited with the existing public infrastructure (sidewalks, streetscape amenities, utilities, roads, and curbs): antiquated infrastructure, dilapidated and collapsing conditions, and lack of accessible information. For future planning and revitalization efforts, the neighborhood steering committee stressed the need to conduct a detailed engineering study which inventoried the existing infrastructure conditions, proposed upgrades with cost estimates, and analyzed the correlation of the existing infrastructure within the core neighborhood with the new waterfront parcels. 

Working with the Camden Redevelopment Agency, Cooper’s Ferry and Save Our Waterfront (SOW) were able to secure grant monies from the Camden Economic Recovery Board (ERB) to undertake an infrastructure assessment study. The scope of services for this study includes cataloging and evaluating the existing subsurface and site conditions of the public infrastructure (roadways, curbs, striping, sidewalks, streetscapes, traffic patterns, and underground utilities) within North Camden, and developing an engineering plan that recommends phased systematic upgrades.

Over the past few months, SOW,CFDA and the engineering firm Traffic Planning and Design (TPD), have been working with the neighborhood residents and stakeholders to coordinate the research completed for the project with the development projects proposed in North Camden by the stakeholders. A draft copy of the report will be available for review and comment in early December, and also presented to the SOW steering committee on December 10^th. 

 If anyone has any questions and/or comments, please contact Joe Myers from Cooper’s Ferry Development Association at 856-757-9154 or email myers@camdenwaterfront.com