Chandller NRSA in Telegram

Coverage in Telegram yesterday


Group seeks plan for Chandler Street corridorPaul Collyer said he's heard enough about the Canal District being the sole proprietor of “funky” in the city.   “The Canal District doesn't have housing,” Mr. Collyer said. “Edgy young people want to live somewhere edgy.”   Mr. Collyer said the Chandler Street corridor from Park Avenue to Main Street fits the bill of an edgy, urban core experience. A resident of the Chandler Street neighborhood, Mr. Collyer puts on the annual Paulie's NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival.

And as different pockets of the city start to gel and market themselves to younger, more urban-minded folk, members of the Chandler Business Association said they think they are uniquely positioned to revitalize what has long been one of the city's struggling main corridors.  With the help of a group of thinkers in the Clark University orbit and some federal money to spend, members of the group feel they are ready to move beyond façade projects and tree plantings.

The group, a joint effort by the Chandler Business Association and Worcester Common Ground, used the neighborhood's designation as a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area to spend $350,000 in grant money to date on everything from façade work, home improvements, roofs, siding, and security camera systems.   In 2006, the city designated five low-income neighborhoods, which are home to about 25 percent of the city's population, as recipients of $2 million worth of federal Community Block Grant money, which was to be used in revitalization efforts. William Randell, a local businessman and member of the Chandler Business Association, said the group wasted no time in spending the money.

“We had so many in line, the city had another $250,000 in federal stimulus money, and it went to those who were on our waiting list,” Mr. Randell said.   The group recently decided to spend $12,000 for a master plan it hopes will give the neighborhood a long-term vision that will transform it into a place where residents live and spend money.

Meeting at the EVO bar and restaurant near the corner of Chandler and Park Avenue on a recent afternoon, Mr. Collyer, Mr. Randell, and Andy Serrato, owner of Serrato Signs on Dewey Street, replied almost in unison when asked what the most important issue the neighborhood needs to resolve to truly prosper—more owner-occupied housing.  “The most important thing is home ownership,” Mr. Serrato said.

Mr. Randell said the neighborhood needs an infusion of working-class residents who are willing to invest in the neighborhood. Mr. Collyer and Mr. Randell suggested that the city needs to devise some sort of property tax break for residents willing to take a chance on Chandler Street and in its surrounding neighborhoods. “You've got to give people incentives to buy,” he said.

Working with the Community Development Training Institute, a group overseen by Clark University master's degree students that provides community and economic development assistance to local governments and nonprofits, the Chandler Street group recently completed a preliminary report that it will use as the basis to put together a master plan, which should be completed by December.

Zaliah Zalkind, co-director of the CDTI, said the next step is to go out into the neighborhoods and find out what residents would like to see their neighborhood look like.