City Seeks The 411 On Neighborhood Biz

When the power went out on Upper Whalley during a recent storm, the city had no go-to contact info for the businesses there. Next time they plan to — as officials, prompted by the storm, prepare to map and collect data on all neighborhood commercial districts.

Deputy Economic Development Director Tony Bialecki unveiled the new data-gathering effort at Tuesday’s regular meeting at City Hall of the New Haven Development Commission.

Superstorm Sandy, for instance, caused wind and water damage at business like Von Roll USA, the 1 Long Wharf Drive office building, Gracie’s Chicken, and the McDonalds and Popeyes at Kimberly Avenue and the Boulevard were damaged by wind and water. City officials either had no one to call or out-of-date numbers.

They’ve undertaken the new mapping and data-collection project for an additional reason: to firm up institutional memory for the new administration taking office in January. A new mayor will bring new staff into City Hall. Yet storms as well as interested entrepreneurs will continue arriving at the municipal doorstep.

Bialecki called the mapping project a work in progress, made possible in part by the presence of three tech-savvy college interns who are integrating tax assessor information with zoning maps, municipal geographical information systems, info from Data Haven, along with the contact info that staffers from economic development, Livable City Initiative, and other city departments have been anecdotally gathering over the years.

Bialecki showed a map with at least 16 districts including special services areas and ranging from Whalley and Westville Village to Quinnipiac/Foxon to Dixwell and into Fair Haven.

“We’re working on boundaries, collecting data on businesses, contact information. Some of this came out of the storm,” said Bialecki.

When it’s all assembled the info will be shared with city staff and the public, he said.

Commissioner Kevin Ewing asked if the only business district in the configuration in the Hill is Kimberly Square.

“We’re not ignoring smaller ones. The idea is to capture whole neighborhoods,” such as every business in the Hill, and then break the information out into ​“mini neighborhoods,” Bialecki said.

He said the project may eventually add other areas such as Cedar Hill.

In general the commissioners praised the idea as a way to help bring development to non-downtown areas that have historically gotten less new-business action than the central zones of town.

In addition to the interns, whose computer and technical expertise Bialecki praised, the city has recently hired Latoya Cowan as an development officer who will work with Clay Williams, the department’s mall business liaison, to develop more info with the city’s farther-flung business areas.

Ewing cautioned Bialecki not to omit collecting data from residents in addition to business owners. ​“They may shop elsewhere from where they live,” he said.

He suggested grassroots information is also available from efforts made by, for example, the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement CARE to map ​“food deserts” in the city,

Commissioner Antoine Scott suggested hiring dedicated to the project. ​“If you can get a staffer, pay them $60,000, we’ll support it,” he said.

He also suggested enlisting the help of high-schoolers, especially those at Metropolitan Business Academy?

Bialecki listened intently and said that while the idea sounds good, interns do require supervision.

He emphasized that the project is an economic development priority. You can use Dun & Bradstreet and other standard resources, but that gets you only 70 percent of businesses in an area, and it’s rarely up to date, he said.