Community Development and Revitalization

CMEOC Beliefs About Community Development and Revitalization

• CMEOC believes that neighborhood revitalization should involve more than downtown revitalization such as facade renovations, street landscaping, sidewalk improvements and street lighting and the like.
• CMEOC believes that comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategies should be based on a view of neighborhoods as a collection of people, relationships, and networks, as much as a collection of buildings, roads, homes, and businesses.
• The ties that bind us to our neighbors must be as strong as the ties to our place of residence, the corner store, and the local school. This means revitalization should improve the lives of residents as well as improve the physical environment of downtown to attract consumers and tourist.

Revitalization

Revitalization strategies should assume active roles by both the public and private sectors. Comprehensive redevelopment cannot be sustained over the long-term when only one sector participates. The underlying theme for today is the power of partnerships in creating bold visions for the future and in implementing the multitude of Initiatives and programs, large and small, that creates the quality of life we strive for in all neighborhoods, and particularly our low-income neighborhoods.

CMEOC is an advocate of comprehensive neighborhood revitalization. Our vision for community revitalization includes the developing and implementing the following strategies for a comprehensive and sustainable revitalization program for communities in both Chesterfield and Marlboro counties:

• Organizing community revitalization committees in targeted low income communities
• Community revitalization based on an articulated plan or strategy;
• Inclusion of stakeholders in planning and implementing development strategies;
• Emphasis on physical development, economic development, or human capital development (defined as investing in the residents of the targeted neighborhoods through education and training, services, economic opportunities, cultural resources, and social, religious and civic networks designed to help residents reach their full potential as parents/family members, neighbors, workers or business owners, and citizens of the community).

CMEOC recognizes the fact that community revitalization has three essential components:

• starts with a strategic plan based on the shared vision of public housing residents and other neighborhood stakeholders;
• uses the skills of the private sector to realize public goals;
• and allocates a substantial share of the Federal funding to comprehensive social services designed to improve the economic self-sufficiency of residents and better equip them to participate in the redeveloped neighborhood.

Community Development Corporation

CMEOC is a Community Development Corporation with access to federal funds, including tax incentives that are used to attract financial participation by other levels of government and the private sector. CMEOC's assessment of the needs of communities in Chesterfield and Marlboro counties are as follows:

• major street realignments
• new park development
• new and additional Head Start facilities
• improved or develop drainage systems
• enforcement of city ordinances
• cleanup and or demolition of abandoned properties
• streets without sidewalks
• housing rehabilitation
• affordable and sustainable housing development