Chance meetings are often the most powerful. A young family was playing tonight at Mother’s Brewing Company’s back yard, and they were overflowing about all the positive changes they saw in Springfield after moving from Kansas two years ago. It reminded me how we can be so focused on the challenges in front of us that we forget to occasionally take a glimpse to remind ourselves of the positive progress we’ve achieved.
Since taking the role as the Neighborhood Advisory Council chair four years ago, my initial focus was to maintain the momentum former chairs Pete Radecki and Phyllis Ferguson had generated through their strong leadership. Little did I know that a worldwide pandemic would significantly alter how neighborhoods would be able to gather and function. We were quarantined, social distanced and masked. Along the way, we learned new technologies and ways of serving. But the past two years also reinforced that we are social creatures and life is sweeter when we can share it with our family, friends, and neighbors.
Here are four areas where NAC has made notable gains since 2018:
Growth in registered neighborhood organizations
The number of registered neighborhoods has increased from 17 to 23. That translates into more clean-ups, block parties, neighborhood watch groups, NOVA recipients, Neighborhood Works capital projects, and people knowing and caring about their neighbors. It also connects more residents with the many services the City of Springfield offers to its recognized neighborhoods.
Nuisance Property Work Group
NAC and Community Partnership of the Ozarks doubled down on their ongoing collaborations on nuisance properties to form the Nuisance Property Work Group in February. This group of 30 wide-ranging stakeholders is in the final stages of recommending transformational investments in addressing nuisance properties including charting a new direction, initiating new incentives, and lifting the floor on the health and safety standards for rental properties. The group’s final report will be presented to City Council later this summer.
Restore SGF
A group of community leaders traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, last summer to study the successes of the Invest DSM program and bring those lessons learned back to Springfield. It has sparked considerable buzz in the community to find new ways to encourage exterior improvements through its Block Challenge grants, spur renovations to historic homes to provide the amenities young families desire today, and ultimately lift property values in pivotal middle-market neighborhoods. City Council is currently reviewing a request for $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to come alongside private sector commitments already received from local banks.
Neighborhoods as economic engines
The early drafts of the City’s new comprehensive plan – Forward SGF – has a strong emphasis on neighborhood revitalization and neighborhood hubs (such as the great walkable and bikeable businesses at Cherry and Pickwick). Springfield has witnessed the success of its mixed-use districts (Downtown, C-Street, and Galloway) using commercial incentives. The next step will be to expand that success into our historic neighborhoods to create more points of pride and social magnets.
At the May NAC meeting, the group unanimously approved Becky Volz as chair starting July 1. She is a tireless leader for not only her beloved Woodland Heights Neighborhood, but our public schools and PTAs, Nuisance Property Work Group, chief cheerleader for the championship Woodland Heights kickball team, and much more. She pours her heart and soul into community service and Springfield is a better place because of her decades of service. NAC will be in good hands the next two years.
Becky and I ask for your continued support of these important neighborhood initiatives so we can all look back in a few years to celebrate what we have accomplished together!