Thomas MacMillan Photo
Consultant Simone, far right, with neighbor Ann Boyd and city officials Jackie James and Steve Fontana on Congress Avenue this week.
Two months after they visited New Haven, two neighborhood revitalization experts came to the conclusion they promised they would: Form a task force. They threw in a second idea: Hire us to do more consulting.
That was the word from the consultants as delivered in their final report, released Wednesday, a month after they promised it.
In March, the city paid the consultants $10,000 — John Simone, of the Connecticut Main Street Center, and his colleague Kent Burnes — to assess the potential for commercial development in various New Haven neighborhoods. The pair spent several days in town, walking streets in four neighborhoods and meeting with leaders and locals, known as “stakeholders,” in consultant-speak.
In their final report—click here to read it — the pair recommend that the city form the “New Haven Neighborhood Revitalization Center” that would “provide technical assistance and resources for developing programs in neighborhood commercial districts.”
The Connecticut Main Street Center is “available to help New Haven” in the effort, the report states. The first step would be to create a task force.
“My administration is committed to expanding economic opportunity beyond downtown to include vitally important opportunities along these major arteries, and I believe the Connecticut Main Street Center can assist residents, business owners, and other community leaders in this effort,” Mayor Toni Harp said in a press release. “Many stakeholders already have an idea what it will take to activate these commercial districts, now we’ll add input about infrastructure, streetscapes, and traffic calming to devise the best way to move people and goods through the city, into these neighborhoods, and into these businesses.”
For in-depth coverage of their visits to the neighborhoods, including some missed opportunities on Congress Avenue, click on these previous stories:
• Retail Gurus’ Conclusion: Neighborhood Districts Need A Task Force
• Dixwell Fact-Finders Urged To Include Youth In The Picture
• They Sort Of Saw Congress Ave.‘s Potential
• On Grand, Fixers Find Litter
• Neighborhood Fact-Finding Mission Begins
Two months after they visited New Haven, two neighborhood revitalization experts came to the conclusion they promised they would: Form a task force. They threw in a second idea: Hire us to do more consulting.
Arrogant power elites feel no obligation to be accountable to the public. Power elites own the government and use it to serve their interests and protect a corporate plutocracy.