Politics & Government

Point Neighborhood Visioning Plan Announced

City says plan will empower residents to plan for future of neighborhood

The following is courtesy of the City of Salem.

The and the North Shore Community Development Coalition are pleased to announce an important and exciting initiative in Salem’s Point Neighborhood. With the support of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the City and North Shore CDC will be working with the community to develop a vision and action plan for the Point Neighborhood.

The planning process will empower residents to create their own community vision and help create a sustainable improvement plan for the Salem Point Neighborhood. The project will foster new collaborations among public, private and voluntary organizations in the community and will engage residents, business people and other community members to help with community building in this densely populated neighborhood.

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Mayor Kimberley Driscoll stated, “The Point Neighborhood has tremendous assets. The planning process presents a great opportunity for residents, business owners, and others to actively participate in creating a common vision to strengthen the neighborhood.” Mayor Driscoll added, “The City looks forward to expanding our working relationship with the North Shore CDC, MAPC, and other community-based organizations through our collaboration on the vision and action plan.”

Over the next year, the project partners will host a number of informal community meetings, undertake canvassing surveys, and organize neighborhood-wide public meetings to engage residents and leaders of the Salem Point Neighborhood in a broad conversation about their community. Discussion topics may include infrastructure, municipal services, public safety, housing, youth development, local food and nutrition, perception of the neighborhood, workforce development and more.

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The resulting action plan will assist in guiding priorities for local capital and operating improvements and identify actions that the group is collectively committed to pursuing in the next three to five years.

“The North Shore CDC is committed to engaging a diverse number of residents in a thorough visioning process,” said Mickey Northcutt, Executive Director of the North Shore CDC, which is a project partner. “We are looking forward to collaborating with citywide stakeholders to generate interest among residents to participate in a local planning process.”

By undertaking this unprecedented project, the Mayor and the North Shore CDC are hoping to use MAPC’s professional expertise to promote innovative thinking and better connectivity across Salem’s diverse community.

“We’re thrilled to work with Salem, the North Shore CDC, and especially the people who live and work in the Point to develop a vision for the future of this great neighborhood, and concrete steps to achieve that vision,” said Marc Draisen, Executive Director of MAPC.”

This project is funded by the federal Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant, which was awarded to the City of Salem by the Metro Boston Consortium for Sustainable Communities.

For more information about the project, visit http://mapc.org/salempointvision


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