Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group

What's Next With Planning NRP Phase 2 and How You Can Help

Jul 19, 2002

by Herb Gysler, FRNNG NRP Phase 2 Planning Committee Chair

Greetings to friends of the Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood. Those of you who have been following our neighborhood's NRP Phase 2 planning in recent issues of Close to Home are well aware that we, as a community, have a mighty task at hand. Starting last January and running to February 2003, the Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group (FRNNG) is implementing a plan to determine the next five to 15 years of neighborhood-improvement projects. The planning process has and will involve reaching out to the entire neighborhood. It will also include targeted efforts to reach underrepresented members of our community. Its purpose: to get your ideas regarding how we can best sustain and improve our neighborhood in the near future.

As chair of the FRNNG Phase 2 Planning Committee, it is my privilege to work with a group of dedicated volunteers who will guide this 14-month process of intensive outreach, discussion and the setting of project goals and budgets.

During our neighborhood's NRP Phase 1 (1993-2002), we were able to do many things to improve our community. Out of a budget of nearly $2.7 million, we built two playgrounds, weatherized and soundproofed Field School, provided over $1.5 million in home-improvement loans or grants, funded commercial streetscaping at 48th & Chicago, removed a blighting commercial area, published over 40 issues of our newsletter and sustained a neighborhood office and full-time staff.

With our success in Phase 1, we are now planning Phase 2. Over the next couple of months we will be working on a neighborhood survey and doing several focus groups to gather community ideas and visions. The Phase 2 Planning Committee will work with each of the Phase 2 Task Forces (Housing, Community & Safety, Business, Education, Parks and Communications) to draft goals and strategies based on citizen input. We expect to present a preliminary draft of this work to the neighborhood at the annual Welcome Neighbor Night at McRae Park on Tuesday, Sept. 24. The purpose of presenting the strategies is to get feedback from you and others, which we will then use to create a first draft of the Phase 2 Action Plan. This draft plan will be reviewed and critiqued by the neighborhood at a subsequent meeting.

If you would like to get involved on one of the task forces or have questions about Phase 2, please call the FRNNG office at 721-5424.