New Haven Independent

Posted by: robn | April 29, 2008 5:38 PM

There was a 2004 study done in NYC showing that poor people are more likely to stay in a neighborhood which is improving. Essentially, it showed the "gentrification" term to be a myth.

http://nycenvirons.blogspot.com/2005/06/exploding-gentrification-myth-columbia.html

I think its great what this neighborhood is doing, and other neighborhoods shouldn't fear "gentrification" or be dissuaded from improving their surroundings.

Bravo CSNA

Posted by: king james V | April 29, 2008 11:08 PM

Robin, I think it's the smart thing to do for anyone who can afford to stay in an improving neighborhood, but we all know, rents never go down, and rents in improving neighborhoods go up faster than those that stay the same or don't improve. The pictures provide to us show a disproportionate number of people most would consider "african american" attending this event if you go by recent racial makeup according to census reports, and though i realize Mr. Cruz and a few of the other residents would identify as being "hispanic" there is a disproportionate number of caucasioin looking folks if you again consider the racial make up of today's fair haven
Now, there is a pretty good sized public housing complex just a block away, and if you look at the makeup of the population of said complex, it appears there is a less than average attendence of it's residents.
I don't have good answers as to why this is, but after 43 years it appears, to me at least, that people - all people, good people - who are not held to high expectations, and have no land or house of their own at risk, tend to not be as involved in the communal care of their neighborhoods.
I would like to hear either an explaination of this, or a reasonable intelligent argument as to why i'm completely out of bounds here.
I've got no soulutions, but would like to hear some real arguments - from the hip, no politics, no p.c. answers.

Posted by: Da Hill | April 30, 2008 10:03 AM

We all can learn alot from committed citizens such as hope metcalf. Hope, has committed herself not only to her community, but the community of New Haven. Hope should run for the Board of Alderman, or even the Mayor. I am a Huge fan of her work. Hope, Continue to set examples to us all what it means to not complain about our city, but to make it better. Hope you give us all hope!

Posted by: ball-zee | April 30, 2008 10:22 AM

People who are given section 8 housing in general do not feel connected or personally responsible for the living area they are given. The opportunity for cheap housing should act as a stepping stone to something better. However it is usually an escape from the real world. Section 8 and some state funded assistance can hinder a persons will to work and grow in life. A free ride is hard to give up. Why join the working class suckers when they can stay at home and survive from the government. Assistance should come with terms to instill into the people that this is a helping hand not a new lifestyle. If the helping hand doesnt get you on your feet, that hand should turn into a fist and show you the way out. No where does it say we have to support all the poor people in America for ever. I agree that many people are thrown into situations that cannot be changed without help: use the help and get back out there and do good for your family or yourself. Remember that not all people in need of help receive it. If you are blessed to get help from the government you should feel grateful and want to use the opportunity to its fullest
A commmunity should act together to solve its local issues but if everyone doesnt care or participate in the efforts being put forward is it really a community action? I applaud the activists who are giving their time for a cause they feel to be worthwhile. However I urge them to try and open the doors of the housing complex down the street and try to include a more diverse population into your groups.

Posted by: ball-zee | April 30, 2008 10:22 AM

People who are given section 8 housing in general do not feel connected or personally responsible for the living area they are given. The opportunity for cheap housing should act as a stepping stone to something better. However it is usually an escape from the real world. Section 8 and some state funded assistance can hinder a persons will to work and grow in life. A free ride is hard to give up. Why join the working class suckers when they can stay at home and survive from the government. Assistance should come with terms to instill into the people that this is a helping hand not a new lifestyle. If the helping hand doesnt get you on your feet, that hand should turn into a fist and show you the way out. No where does it say we have to support all the poor people in America for ever. I agree that many people are thrown into situations that cannot be changed without help: use the help and get back out there and do good for your family or yourself. Remember that not all people in need of help receive it. If you are blessed to get help from the government you should feel grateful and want to use the opportunity to its fullest
A commmunity should act together to solve its local issues but if everyone doesnt care or participate in the efforts being put forward is it really a community action? I applaud the activists who are giving their time for a cause they feel to be worthwhile. However I urge them to try and open the doors of the housing complex down the street and try to include a more diverse population into your groups.

Posted by: fairhavendoc | April 30, 2008 12:27 PM

don't be fooled by the pictures...the second one from the top is a picture of all of the yale volunteers (they are wearing blue nametags). if you want to talk about the diversity at yale...that is another story.

how is the top picture not emblematic of the diversity of fair haven? young and old, black and white and hispanic, new- and long-time residents, yale and non-yale. shoot, they even brought a busload of yale undergrads to see a neighborhood yalies no virtually nothing about! let's not be nit-picky. i was at the event and there was a wide range of the community represented.

let's just call this what it is...a wholesome effort to inspire a community to action, given limited resources. [applause.] there's no need to temper your support with a tinge of negativity.

by the way, i am not sure the CHATHAM SQUARE NA includes the quinnipiac housing complex in their catchment...the complex isn't really in chatham square. not that they are trying to exclude them, but perhaps they are trying to focus their efforts on CHATHAM SQUARE, to build a good core, before they expand their outreach.

the CSNA is a very diverse community group and you are probably welcome to come to a meeting to find out. if you want to watch them open the doors further, it looks like you are in for some treats this summer. keep an eye out for more community activities. and if you have any doubts, look for yourself, in person.

Posted by: king james V | April 30, 2008 2:27 PM

So what you are saying doc is that fair haven (according to the picture you are refering to) is 60% white, 20% hispanic and 20% black, and that a collection of hundreads of people living a block (it really is one block) are not included in chatam square.
When i lived on wooster square we included folks from water st (2 blocks away) to williams st. (5 blocks away) in our demographics. Of course the vast majority of those who attended the clean ups and events were white people, and in my opinion (i'm pretty damned white) i'd go so fars as to call them "up with people uppity nosey white people". they kept the neighborhood clean, but drove up the rent and became a bit too involved with my personal business, but that's another story.
what i want to know is how do we get folks from section 8 & public housing interested - en mass - to put time and effort into preserving and improving their community, AND when they do, how do we assure them they won't be priced out of the community they've help create.

Posted by: Kevin Ewing | April 30, 2008 3:49 PM

I'd like to offer a few things to the discussion. I am the organizer for Chatham Square Neighborhood Association and would gladly answer questions more directly (kevin_ewing@yahoo.com) rather than trying to put it all in a post.

I started working in the neighborhood about a year ago. A big part of my role is to meet the residents and help them to meet each other. The CSNA project has been going on for about 2 years or so. I was originally hired to work with residents in the area between Atwater to Front and Lombard to Pine. I don't know why that area was chosen and didn't ask. While that was the target area we welcomed anyone in Fair Haven and beyond who was willing to work on maintaining the stability of the neighborhood. I do know that one reason the neighborhood was chosen is because of the work that was already happening. There were folks working together years before this project started. Friends of Chatham Square Park, for example, has been a Greenspace for 13 or 14 years.

Because of the successes in the target area, this year (starting April 1) we have expanded my area of focus to cover Grand to the highway and Ferry to the river. That includes the new housing project. There were people at this event from the Ferry Street Block Watch, English Street and other areas that were added. However more outreach is needed. We have an Outreach work group focusing on that.

I may be biased but I think that anything like this that happens in a neighborhood is beneficial regardless of who is there. As long as neighbors are meeting each other, using our public spaces and building community. This is a group of people who are putting their talk into action. Not everyone will be interested or able to participate in everything. The joy of building community is that there is a place for everybody that wants a space.

Posted by: Hope | April 30, 2008 4:00 PM

It was a great day, and a reflection of all of the hard work and care that so many people have put in over the years--Chris Ozyck, Dawn Chiaraluce, David Zakur, Barbara Melotto, Pat Bissell, Lee Cruz & Kevin Ewing--just to name a few, not to mention Joan, who was really the brains AND the muscle behind Saturday.

The comments posted here about diversity and representation are well-taken, and I appreciate them. We are trying, but we have a LOOOOONG way to go. CSNA's area embraces from Middletown to Ferry to Grand to Front--a wide variety of people, cultures, languages, incomes and ages. We are actively trying reach out to all residents--renters (Section 8, public housing or otherwise) and homeowners alike--and we could use your help! We welcome everyone to our meetings, which are held the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6 pm at the Mary Wade home. If anyone would like more information about how to get involved and get active, please email me at hope.metcalf@yale.edu

Happy spring!

Posted by: robn | April 30, 2008 4:48 PM

KJV, did you hit the link I posted??? Its a compelling statistical argument that gentrification is a myth.

"Mr. Freeman ... found that poor households living in gentrifying neighborhoods in New York City, including Harlem, were 24 percent less likely to have moved between 1991 and 1999 than poor people living in non-gentrifying communities. Even when controlling for various factors, like age, race and overcrowding, poor households were still 20 percent less likely to move from gentrifying areas than poor households living in non-gentrifying communities in New York City."

Posted by: David Zakur | April 30, 2008 10:17 PM

As a long time volunteer and the point person for the Friends of Chatham Square Community Greenspace Group, I am happy that the FHNA has come on board to bring renewed vigor to the greater Chatham Square neighborhood. Our boundary is not geographically defined by the four sides of the park, yet by the depth of our involvement with the community at large. We are not about any one locale, but a hundred nodes throughout the neighborhood that when united are a catalyst for change. This is the very reason that the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven chose this neighborhood in which to actively seek community involvement for change, be that in terms of policing, increased home ownership, traffic calming, greenspace, or home improvement. Philanthropy is measured in many ways, only one of which is the giving of funds. Grassroots philanthropy starts with me, and you, and that other person over there. As long as we ask the same question as to "why not", the change will come. As long as we look beyond the "what can you do for me", and instead ask "what can I do for the greater good", change will come. For my thirteen years involvement in the Urban Resources Initiative Community Greenspace program I measure success in terms of what I have accomplished with my hands at any one time. Would there have been ten, twenty, thirty more pairs of hands, my philanthropy is with the two hands that I have control of, and which I decide to create change. Pride has no pedigree. Proud people walk in all types of shoes. To empower each resident with the knowledge that they have an even stake in the very workings of their community, and can with their two hands elicit real change, is a priceless thing which transcends social, racial, and economic circumstance. Wangari Maathai started the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya by teaching women to plant trees for sustenance with their own two hands. Each one plant one, and before you know it you have educated, reforested, and are nobel laureate! With the resources of our community, think of what might be accomplished should we all act in a similar manner?

Posted by: DAFeder | May 1, 2008 12:37 PM

ROBN,Fair Haven
Thanks for the interesting linked article, but I think you're missing the study's real implications for Chatham Square and New Haven.

The study points out that "...rent regulation," which we don't have in NH, "plays an important role in protecting low-income residents." Surely safer, cleaner neighborhoods are desirable to people of all incomes. And people across the economic spectrum are willing to pay a premium to do so.

But if you are facing an increase of 43% over 3 years in desirable neighborhoods, the people who stay have three choices: 1) work harder (a LOT harder -- almost half again more hours in 14% more each year) to pay that bill, 2) spend more of their income on rent (and have the rest of their household budget suffer), 3) live on easy-seeming credit, and hello credit crisis, hello mortgage crisis.

Or you can also spend some of those hours improving public spaces and building community involvement, and get a beautiful Chatham Square neighborhood without MasterCard breathing down your neck. That seems like quite a bargain.

David

ps/ Allan -- nice article. Thanks.

Posted by: robn | May 2, 2008 11:40 AM

David,

Don't be too selective about the implications of the research.

"Mr. Freeman's research...indicates that rent regulation plays an important role in protecting low-income residents.... But regulation isn't the sole factor. "Rent regulation is part of it," said Mr. Freeman. "But if the neighborhood is on the upswing, people want to stay.""