Word: idea
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Their neighborhood--predominantly Negro Bedford-Stuyvesant--is to be the staging area for a comprehensive and costly experiment in community renovation. The idea is for government and private enterprise to sit down with the community to help solve the problem that residents want solved. The prospects: massive housing rehabilitation, more jobs, more hospitals, more parks, and more local autonomy in overseeing city services from schools to sanitation. Some enthusiasts have the neighborhood beginning to glitter and smile inside of five years...
...kick off the idea, architects are now seeking sites for two "superblocks." The name, conjuring up images of massive new construction is misleading; the plans are modest. Two or three blocks will be joined together by closing a street or two to through traffic. Abandoned buildings will be demolished for vest-pocket parks, and the parks will be connected to form walkways through the superblock. The closed off streets will be used in part for parking, in part as malls, with benches, fountains, sandboxes or whatever residents recommend. A building in the middle of the area will be purchased...
...went for the abandoned Sheffield Farms dairy in the heart of the community; once renovated--at a cost that may run as high as $750,000-it will be used as headquarters for both corporations, a job training center, and whatever other services seem like a good idea...
Much of the construction is expected to involve rehabilitation--paid for by the residents themselves. For the first time, government-insured, low-interest bank loans may be made available in a ghetto area. One idea is to aid groups in setting up non-profit corporations to buy apartment houses; instead of paying rent to a landlord, a resident would pay a pro-rated share of the mortgage (plus a charge for maintenance services) and would wind up own apartment. The corporation could also seek money for rehabilitation, and split the payments on the loan among residents. Planners figure that...
...superblocks there will be an intensive effort to encourage residents to get loans for just about anything they want in the way of renovation. The idea is to talk with block clubs in the immediate area, following their suggestions in the detailed planning and hiring, local people to do the work. Ground-breaking on the first superblock could begin as early as this summer. Planners figure that once they have a couple of blocks to point to, money and community enthusiasm for more of them won't be any problem...