I am new to the NRP process, but I have lived in the Jordan neighborhood for 3 years now. 18 months ago, I joined the board of directors. I joined the NRP Steering Committee about six months ago for Phase II Planning. As of February 1, I am the Executive Director for the Jordan Area Community Council, Jordan's citizen participation organization. My involvement with NRP is very limited, but I will take issue with Mr. Johnson's view of the NRP.
Last month, I attended the Neighborhood Housing Services Annual Meeting (and their 25th Anniversary). Jordan used NHS (then NNHS - Northside Neighborhood Housing Services) as one of their primary funding mechanisms for housing. Jordan put about 99% of its NRP Phase I money into housing, a larger percentage than any other neighborhood in Minneapolis. At the annual meeting, NHS proudly pointed to Jordan as one of the most successful neighborhoods in terms of using its NRP dollars wisely. We invested $1.5 million dollars in revolving loan funds that have been turned over several times. The result: $5.5 million dollars of redevelopment activities have taken place in Jordan thanks to that $1.5 million invested. How many other city agencies have brought a 266% return on monies invested in a relatively short period of time (less than ten years-and most of it during a tough economic recession)? And this money continues to revolve, bringing more and more redevelopment and improvement to our neighborhood. In addition to this, we have restored some beautiful old properties, provided purchase/rehab loans to residents who could not have owned a home otherwise and made significant strides toward reducing blight in our neighborhood. The community set very high standards for redevelopment, restoration and even for home improvement. It is a beautiful example of citizens deciding what they need in their community and going for it. One of the issues for northside neighborhoods is that people have historically regard them as the "poor" neighborhoods. While people may pay lip service to improving the northside, there is still an unspoken sigh of relief that the problems are "up there" on the north side. For this reason, there is often little incentive to solve the problems. If we should solve the northside problems, where are the "problems" going to go. For the northside neighborhoods, community participation supported with NRP dollars have given us a way to take control of our future and work together to make it bright. Have we made mistakes? Of course, but none that would overshadow the achievements. For Jordan, NRP has been an outstanding success. Dorothy Titus Jordan neighborhood REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
