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COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN PLANNING OF MODEL NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAM City Planning Department City Hall Atlanta, Ga. January, 1968 OUTLIN"E .INTRODUCTION IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATION PROCEDURES FOR PLANNING PROBLEM ANALYSIS, GOAIB & PROGRA..M STRATEGY STATEMENT - GUIDE TO COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN PLANNI NG (1) Discussion Reports (2) Distributien of Rep0rts ATTACHMENTS Discussion Reports Chart Report #1 - Problem .Analysis, Sample Outline �IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATION If the planning of the Model Neighborhood Program is to be successful, it is absolutely essential that all key participants ·i.ir the program are well organized. This means that the following organi zational matters should be accomplished before planning begins. 1. The Model Neighborhood Executive Boa rd should be formed to act as the ultimate authori ty of the pr@gram. It should allow representation from all levels of gover-JLment - city, county, state, and federal; residents of the Model Nei ghborhood area; and residents of the city-at-large. 2. The Model Neighborhood staff should be f ormed, including the executive director, the three chief planners and the technical staff. 3. Stable local organizations which adequ at el y represent the residents of the various neighborhoods in the area should be in operation. While those organizations should be representative of the interests of all residents and give everyone a voice in their affairs, they should not be se cumbersome that they cannot work effectively with the planners. In other words, it will be physica.JJ..v impossible for the planners to carry all of their work directly to the 'grass roots' organizations of the area. This may be necessary for some key issues, but for the most part planners will have to work with a small committee of 10-20 persons if they are to accomplish anything worthwhile. �COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN PLANNING OF MODEL NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAM INTRODUCTION The Model Neighborhood Program offers an excellent opportunity to bring about basic improvements in one of the most problematic areas of Atlanta. The area selected for the pr0gram contains all the varied and complicated forms of urban blight which plague American cities today, from overcrowded, su~standard housing to incompatible land use mj_xtures to poer street conditions and inadequate community facilities to all facets of socio-economic poverty and deprivation. Most of these conditions have deep roots and are so complex and of such a nature that it will take nothing less than a special concentrated long-term effort to eliminate them. So far no major city in the country has been successful in eliminating them. The Model Neighborhood Program can bring about t he special concentrated effort which is needed to alleviate the conditions of the ' Model Neighborhood' area. It is designed to pool the resources of the city, county, state, and federal governments along with tho se of private interest groups to make a total attack on the serious and widespread problems of the area for a period of several years. The funds it provides will support the pr gram through the planning and implementation stages. However, if the Model Neighborhood Program is to avoid the mistakes of many previous efforts to help slwn residents it is very important that the pr gram be carefully planned and that local residents be involved throughout all stages of planning. The purpose of this report is to show how c mmunity par ticipation ean be effectively fitted into the planning f the M del Nei~hborho0d Pr gram. -2- �Hence the neighborhood groups of the area should be capable of fer.ming such a cemmittee which can wor k with the planners and relay this work to the 'grass ro0ts' groups . It has been suggested that the steering committee of the various neighb0rhood gr oups in the area serve this function . PROCEDURES FOR PLANNING The federal government has set the pr ocedure s for the planning of the Model NeighborhQod Program. The period allowed f or planning is one year, beginning with the date of the congressional announcement of the program (Nov. 15, 1967 - Nov• . 15, 1968). During t his period t he foll0wing planning items have to be submitted to the fe de ral government for approval: 1. Problem Analysis, Goals & Progra~ Strategy Statement 2. Five -Year Pl an 3. Firs t-Year Action Progr am 4. Pl anning and Evaluation Progr am S. Statement of Administ rative St ructLITe for Impl ement ation Of t hese planning submission requirements , the firs t one - the Problem Analysis, Goals and Program St rategy'Statemeht - i s probably the most important, as it will set the stage for the rest of the planning effort. It will establish the general orientation of the Five-Year Plan and the FirstYear Action Program and will initiate the general procedures for community participation in planning. Thus, it can serve as a guide as to how the local residents will be involved in plam1ing. -3- �PROBLEM ANALYSIS, GOALS AND PROGRAM STRATEGY STAT~j§JIT-GUIDE TO COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN PLANNING The preparation of the Problem Analysis, Goals and Program Strategy is divided into three stages or milestones: Strategy. Problem Analysis; Goals; and It is intended that the Model Neighborhood planning staff and the community will be working cl0sely toget her in this preparation so that the best of their ideas will go into the f inal statement submitted to HUD. (1) DISCUSSION REPORTS The basis 0f the working relationship between the Model Neighborhood planning st aff and community will cent er ar oLU1d discussion repor ts to cover each milestone: Problems; Goals; and Strategy. These reports will be done by the planning staff and designed to st imulate discussion among t he r esi dents . They will not be the f inal word on anything, but merely present t he information available to the pl anning st aff so as to initi ate community involvement and discussion on t he significant pl anni ng is sues. The community will be able to criticize , add to and/or subtract from the reports . F0r exampl e , t he f irst r epor t will cover the subject: Problem Analysis and attempt to identify and survey the major condi t ions and problems of the Model Neighborhood area which ju st ify treatment. a. It will: define and document the major conditi0ns And problems as far as available data will allow and according to f ollowing categories: employment; housing ; schools; recreation ; land use; health services; family, legal services; police protection.; ,and 'ether. -4- �b. preseBt the i..nforrnati0n in a simple and concise manner so th2t lay citizens will have a minimum amount of tr<:mble in reading it. c. provide a brief questionnaire on which residents can rate the priority of problems in their community according to the above categories in (a). d. provide space in which residents caD criticize the contents of the report, i.e., redefine problems, r eorganize data, contribute additional ideas, etc. (2) DISTRIBUTION OF REPORTS The reports are to be distributed to each of the six communicities in the Model Neighborhood area. They will include infonnation on the area as a whole and on the particular community to which it is distributed. It probably will not be feasible to get written responses from all residents ef the area. But perhaps certain people frem each community could be responsible for surveying the responses of the residents, summarizing them, and writing them down to be ret urned to the planning staff. The reports will be all wed to circulate for a maximum period of two weeks. This should give enough time for r esidents to gather up their written responses te the report. Also during this time it would be desirable to have a general meeting in each community, whe r e residents can _freely express their own ideas ab0ut the subj ect matter of the report. After this circulation period which hopefully will br ing about fruitful dialogue and exchanges between the planners and the cormnunity, the planning staff should then be in a position to draw up final reports on Pr blems, Goals and St rategy which fully incorporate the ideas of �the residents. These reports would then make up the final Problem Analysis, Goals, and Pregram Strategy Sta tement . ATTACHMENTS Attached to this report are: 1. a chart which shows how the deadline dates and circulation periods of the discussion reports fit int0 the work program for the Problem Analysis, Geals, and Progr am Strategy Statement . 2. a sample outline of Rep0rt #1, Probl em Analysis. - 6 - �DISCUSSION REPORTS CHART PLANNING ACTIVITY Milestone Work Tasks Jan . Feb. Mar . Apr. May l 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 - 1) Problem Analysis Goals and Strategy Swnmary ef Tasks l) Citizen or i entation 2) Problem Analysis 3) Goals Development 4) Strate gy 5) Pr eparation of Report A) Preblem Analysis Report #1 1) Assemble Availabl e Data 2) Decision on Additional Data Requi red 3) Gather Additional Data Required 4) Citizen Analysis of Problems 5) Summarize and .Anal yze 6) Pr epare Report Legend Deadline for distributing reports to community .A Circulation period - - - - Deadline for collection reports from community -y - ·- .--I- - - �Jan. Miltest0ne Werk Tasks Feb . Mar. Apr. Summary of Tasks ' B) Goals Report #2 1) Decument Exi sting Goal s 2) Citizen Goals Set ting 3) Synthesis and Repor t Pr eparation C) Str ategy Report #3 1) Devel 0p Program Approach 2) Establish Program Pr i ority 3) I denti fy Cr itical Changes Requir ed 4) Report Preparation I May 1234 1234 1234 1234 1234 •--, - L.. ---. -- �REPORT #1 - PROBLEM ANALYSIS SAMPLE OUTLINE I. II. Introduction A. Pu~pose of report - to identify and document major conditiens · and problems of area B. Brief description of Model Neighborhood Area and its six communities Problems of Model Neighborhood Area as a Whole 1. 2. 3. 4. s. I II. 6. Health services 1. Family, legal services Housing Employment Schools Recreation Land Use 8. 9. Police protection and c0mmunity relations Other Problems Which Are Especially Acute In Parti cular C0mmunity (e.g. Grant Park) While Grant Park contains all of the proble s affecting the Model Neighborhood areas as a whole, it is especiall~r har dpressed with the following pr oblems. 1. 2. IV. Employment Family, legal services Questionnaire: How Do You Rate Your Community? Schools ___god ___fair ___poor v. Housing Etc. ---good --- fair ---poor Comments 1. Do you think this report adequat ely covered the main problems f your neighborhood? 2. What problems do you find not mentioned in the report? �