Group plan neighborhood revitalization

With the University's help, the nearby communities of Walnut Hill and Spruce Hill are launching plans to revitalize their neighborhoods. Last November, the Walnut Hill Community Association and the West Philadelphia Partnership Community Development Corporation created a "strategic neighborhood plan." Walnut Hill -- which is located between 46th and 52nd streets and Spruce and Market streets -- addressed several issues in their plan, including increasing home ownership, revitalizing commercial areas, improving physical attractiveness, reducing crime and creating more recreational space. And this year, the Spruce Hill Civic Association created a task force to produce a similar plan. Recently, they unveiled a preliminary survey of the area. Spruce Hill lies between 40th and 46th streets and Walnut Street and Baltimore Avenue. Its concerns are very similar to Walnut Hill's -- but because of its proximity to campus, it emphasizes an improved relationship with the University. "[The plans] confirmed a lot of what we already knew," said Glenn Bryan, the director of the University's Office of Community Relations. "It gives the neighborhoods the impetus to move and drive forward by putting the plans into action." According to David Hochman, treasurer of the Spruce Hill Community Association and co-chair of the planning task force, the group wants to produce a rough draft of its plan for a general meeting in mid-June. After that, the draft will be critiqued by several smaller, specialized focus groups. The association hopes to approve a plan sometime in the fall. These projects have been organized with the help of the University's Office of Community Relations and Center for Community Partnerships. According to Bryan, the University has been providing desperately needed technical assistance on urban affairs. "Many of the community organizations are quite pleased with Penn's efforts in those areas," he said. Hochman praised the personal attention the association has received from University President Judith Rodin, who offered her support in a letter addressed to the organization. Much of the University's assistance came from N.R. Popkin, an urban planner and project coordinator for the Center for Community Partnerships. "In order to have credibility in fundraising and community development, you need a professional planner," Hochman explained. He described his job -- and that of his work-study students -- as taking these community concerns and "channeling them into a workable document." "I'm always excited, not just by the enthusiasm of the community's leaders but by everyday people who live there," he added. Popkin said, however, that community residents are primarily responsible for implementing the plan. "These are community-driven projects, and are intended to reflect the needs and perceptions of the residents," he said.

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