BANGOR, Maine — Like many of her neighbors and fellow Main Street corridor residents, Nancy Dymond was apprehensive when she attended her first Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area Plan public meeting.
But like most of the 33 attendees at Thursday evening’s third neighborhood meeting at the Doughty School auditorium, she left feeling enthused and optimistic.
“It was fear of the unknown. We’ve heard different things over the years,” said Dymond, referring to her early skepticism. “But we’ve been kept up to date with these meetings and emails and they’re asking us to give them our thoughts and complaints and suggestions, and so we’re saying, ‘OK, they’re really serious about this and they really do want to partner with us,’ so now it’s really exciting.”
Dymond grew up in her current Walter Street neighborhood and moved away to live in Boston and Washington, D.C., for about 10 years before moving back in 1990. She moved into the house she grew up in, along with her brother, to help take care of her father.
“There’s been a lot of change the last 10 to 20 years. Well, a lot of people like my dad, when they got older, sold their homes because their families didn’t move in and because a lot of them are bigger homes, the buyers would subdivide them into apartments and over the years, some of them basically became slum landlord properties. And now the majority of the neighborhood is apartments.”
The ambitious project — which at four months along is still in its early stages — is focused on combining beautification with law enforcement and legal revisions, among other things, to address problems and revive a geographically significant city area bordering the waterfront.
“I see some positive things happening here and a lot of people have attended these meetings, [which] is encouraging,” Dymond said. “I don’t think people thought anyone would come, so this has been a good experience.”
The project’s goals include increasing safety, redeveloping properties and improving infrastructure in the neighborhood and business areas that make up the Main Street corridor space bordered by Main, Buck, Third and Union streets. All city departments are collaborating on the project.
“You have to move slow, even though we’ve done a lot in a short period of time, but it will take a long time to implement everything,” said Rosie Vanadestine, Bangor’s interim community and economic director.
Vanadestine said the next key dates and steps involve a formal presentation during a special public session open to the public in council chambers at Bangor City Hall on May 9. A formal presentation to the City Council is slated for May 14 and, if all goes well, the plan would then be presented to Housing and Urban Development for approval on May 15.
For this first year of the project, Vanadestine anticipates using an estimated $998,313 community development budget funded primarily by HUD entitlement grant money and repayment of loans made through the city’s Community Development Residential Property Rehabilitation and Business Development loan programs.
The public attendees weren’t the only ones noticing a difference in the atmosphere from the first public meeting to Thursday night’s.
“I think they are more accepting now and they seem more eager to hear what we’re going to be doing,” Vanadestine said of the people who not only attended Thursday, but also those who have offered their thoughts to city officials by phone and email. “I don’t find that it’s really critical or doubtful. There was a little bit of animosity at the beginning and I didn’t feel any of that tonight.”
Bulldoze First, Second and half of Third Street.
I would add in a good portion of Union with that as well:)
After they do your house.
yes, just like curve st “revitalization”. or even better like what occupied main st shaws area. pave that paradise and put up a parking lot.
And we’ll send them all to “occupy” your front yard!
…..”Like many of her neighbors and fellow Main Street corridor residents, Nancy Dymond was apprehensive”…….. I’m pretty sure that most of the “main st corridor” neighbors, especially in the 1st through 4th street zone of unfortunately well spread out crack-houses doesn’t have the first clue about what the *&%$ is going on with the revitalization product. Their most recent schedule item of interest would have been celebrating April 20th (4-20).
Obviously you do not live in the neigborhood. I am wondering what a crack house looks like? If you know a house is a crack house, what have you done about it? I doubt that you have even walked in the neighborhood, by I do, I have no fear of doing so, and have never seen this rampant drug abuse you talk about. There are a lot of decent people here and a sense of community. There is crime and drugs in every part of the city and state, the only real difference I can see in comparison with my neighborhood is there a lot more older homes here.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the homes on 1st-4th streets are no older than the homes in any of the densely populated downtown neighborhoods like the tree streets on the East side. The difference between 1st-4th Streets and other neighborhoods, is the lousy condition of the buildings (many of which are poorly maintained or not maintained at all), the presence of multiple-unit apartment buildings, the high crime rate (the police could build a sub-station on 1st street) and the lack of an outraged group of homeowners demanding that the city do something. Thirty people dropping into a meeting initiated by the city is not enough to save that neighborhood. The property owners should be organizing a revolt, with enough energy behind it to attract 30 city council members, city employees and the media. Until that happens, you’re living in a crack zone, like it or not.
The lack of homeowners demanding/asking something to be done is not lacking. This was the least attended of the three meetings, but that doesn’t mean the interest isn’t there. The previous two were well attended, about 90 people are signed up on the email information list, calls are received nearly every day and citizen interest is at a pretty signifigant level. It was stated at the meeting that one of the challenges of a project this large in scope and projected to take several years to complete is keeping residents involved/interested/active. There are plans in the works to overcome that challenge as well as others.
Oh, like all those beautiful places on Essex St? Sorry, the eastside is full of scary places, too.
My house is over 100 years old, though not all are that old I admit, I still not know why you are hung up on crack houses. I moved into the neighborhood by choice, have never regreted it, and feel perfectly safe. I saw moe crime on the east side, whare i had car tires randomly slashed. Well, I like where I live, no matter what you tink of the neighbore hood. I know most of my neighbors, and do not have any problems with any of them. Like I said, you obviously do not live in the neighborhood.
That money that was dumped into “revitalizing” 2nd, 3rd, and Sanford St. was well spent.
Everyone deserves a beautiful place to sell meth from…
That $$ hasn’t been spent yet – it is what is planned to be spent this year.
I grew up in this neighborhood, and my childhood home was turned into apartments. I was very dismayed to see the property look so unkept, with old household items piled high in the driveway. My Parents always took such good care of the property when they owned it. I hope that this project brings back the neighborhood like it used to be, and the first start is making landlords take care of their properties, and throwing a hefty fine their way if they don’t.
I am a former neighbor of Ms. Dymond. I can personally attest to the things she speaks of. When we lived on that street, It began as decent place to live. Minus the deteriorating foundation of the house we rented (which the landlord promised to have fixed each of the three years we lived there). As the decent people began to move away, in came the scumbags. Dealers, Partiers, Prostitues, Public Urination. A man was so drunk once stumbling up the street, he mistook the hood of my car for a urinal… Not cool. Search the BDN for the Bath Salts user with the Assault rifle, that was three houses down from where I lived. My kids played on that street. SOMETHING needs to be done. Rant concluded.