Federal grant authorized to help pull northern neighborhood from the brink
A federal grant is expected to help revitalize an area of poverty and high crime in North Las Vegas.
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development has awarded $485,000 to North Las Vegas and the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority.
The Choice Neighborhoods Planning grant is set to help recipients craft comprehensive, locally driven plans to revitalize and transform distressed neighborhoods, said Housing and Urban Development regional administrator Ophelia Basgal.
Its goal is to promote a comprehensive approach to transforming neighborhoods struggling to address distressed housing, inadequate schools, poor health, high crime and lack of capital.
“It’s a signature program designed to do neighborhood revitalization,” Basgal said. “The grant will be used towards a transformation plan, with the hopes that it will create a ripple effect around the community.”
The redevelopment plan will be for the North Las Vegas Urban Core neighborhood, which lies adjacent to the city’s redevelopment area and within the Southern Nevada Enterprise Community planning area.
North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown said the grant has a two-year timeline.
City officials and community leaders plan to conduct studies to figure out the best economical development plan for the area — whether that be commercial, residential or a mix.
“This grant will do fantastic things for the city,” Goynes-Brown said. “In my opinion, this area is prime real estate. It’s a great connecting hub for people coming in and out of downtown.”
The neighborhood struggles with a poverty rate of 31 percent, high crime rates and severely distressed public housing. Further, the city of North Las Vegas was negatively affected by the economic downturn, resulting in citywide vacancies and an unemployment rate of 17 percent, according to the press release.
The North Las Vegas Urban Core is home to the 120-unit Rose Gardens public housing development and a former multi-family housing complex called Buena Vista Springs.
Through a community revitalization process and Neighborhood Revitalization Program funds, Buena Vista Springs was demolished.
With the active support of the residents of Rose Gardens, community stakeholders, developers, city planners and partners such as the Clark County School District, the Lincy Institute of UNLV, Lutheran Social Services of Nevada and Nevada Partners, the planning process hopes to create long-term neighborhood stability.
Choice Neighborhoods is focused on three core goals:
— Housing: Replace distressed public and assisted housing with high-quality mixed-income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood.
— People: Improve educational outcomes and intergenerational mobility for youths with services and support delivered directly to participants and their families.
— Neighborhood: Create the conditions necessary for public and private reinvestment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets that are important to families’ choices about their community, such as safety, good schools and commercial activity. “These Choice Neighborhood grants will spark the creation of community plans for progress,” said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro in a press release. “We look forward to working with local leaders to breathe new life into struggling neighborhoods, transforming them into places where residents can flourish and dreams can thrive.”
To develop a plan that meets the core goals of Choice neighborhoods, broad civic engagement will be encouraged.
A community meeting is planned in the summer to discuss the grant.
“This is a great opportunity for the city of North Las Vegas and the people to really be heard and engage like never before,” said Phyllis Hargrove, community outreach manager for North Las Vegas.
For more information, visit cityofnorthlasvegas.com.
To reach North View reporter Sandy Lopez, email slopez@viewnews.com or call 702-383-4686. Find her on Twitter: @JournalismSandy.
