Neighborhood Revitalization Fixing Local Neighborhoods

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Neighborhood Revitalization Fixing Local Neighborhoods

Posted Wednesday, April 28, 2010; 14:49 PM

Eugene “Gus” Newport gives suggestions during a Fresno luncheon

by Business Street Online Staff

Neighborhood revitalization expert Eugene “Gus” Newport speaks to a luncheon crowd at Fresno’s Westside Church of God Wednesday afternoon. Newport had some suggestions for revitalizing local neighborhoods in Fresno. Fresno, CA (April 28, 2010) – Nationally known neighborhood revitalization expert Eugene “Gus” Newport was the keynote speaker at a luncheon Wednesday afternoon in Fresno’s Westside Church of God. Newport was a contributor to the “Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative” in Boston, Mass., one of the most successful neighborhood revitalization efforts in the United States. Some organizations he has been involved with over the years include the Community Training and Assistance Center, working with the Leadership, Effectiveness, Action & Partnership initiative through the Long Island Community Foundation. He helped rebuild New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina disaster as vice president for programs of the Vanguard Public Foundation and a consultant to the Louisiana Disaster Recovery. He served as the mayor of Berkeley, Calif. from 1979-1986, and now lectures regularly on community and economic development and strategies. The event was hosted by the city of Fresno and the Fresno Street Saints. Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin welcomed Newport to Fresno in her introduction speech. “We are so delighted to have him in our town,” she said. Newport was quick to voice his opinion on certain aspects of Fresno communities. He said that Fresno has made the same mistakes for over half a century in the areas of redevelopment, planning and building. He blames policies for failures in certain areas, and mentioned the Fulton Mall. “The downtown mall looks like something that was built so that nobody could have access to it, automobile or whatever else,” Newport said. “You’ve got a 70% vacancy rate. I don’t even understand why you’d want to maintain that.” Newport made a trip to the area a few weeks ago and was surprised at the amount of truck traffic. That led him to think of creating a local multi-modal transportation facility for distribution. He added that if high-speed rail is to come in, many things need to be integrated. “If you don’t do it through a planned process, then you continue to build failure,” Newport said.