Comprehensive Neighborhood Revitalization

The Greater Spruce Street Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative – led by NJCDC – seeks to improve the quality of life for Paterson residents living in and around the Great Falls Historic District and Spruce Street corridor. Despite the natural beauty of the Great Falls, much of the area is characterized by blight, underutilized or abandoned mill buildings, considerable substandard housing, and other signs of pervasive poverty such as underemployment and crime. We believe that the resurgence and renewal of this neighborhood is essential to the preservation and revitalization of Paterson itself. This initiative is designed to work closely with prominent community stakeholders to create a comprehensive neighborhood plan and revitalization strategy offering pragmatic ways to improve the social, economic, and physical elements of the area. To that end, the main goal of this initiative will be the creation of an actionable, 5-10 year plan for sustainable revitalization and surgical redevelopment based on the ideas and aspirations of residents, business owners, community activists, institutional executives, civic leaders and other locally based groups. This is particularly important in low-income and minority neighborhoods, like Paterson, where too often, powerful outside interests determine the shape of housing and economic development efforts— overriding the interests of local residents, institutions, and long-standing community stakeholders.

The plan further defines major quality of life issues negatively affecting the neighborhood and present solutions for correcting these problems over the short, medium, and long term. Also critical will be capitalizing on the sustainable business sector, working in consonance with green-sector jobs and preparing for the second industrial revolution that builds opportunities in a less consumptive, efficient, and sustainable way.

Finally, the plan builds on the existing community strengths and assets, such as the current Great Falls State Park and potential Great Falls National Park, building off the city’s rich industrial legacy and positioning it for sustainable revitalization.

This initiative is funded in partnership with the Wachovia Regional Foundation, the NJ Department of Community Affairs’ Division of Community Resources, J.P. Morgan Chase, and others. Several of New Jersey’s best and brightest graduate and undergraduate students in the planning, policy, architectural, and social sciences will also participate in this work through the Housing Scholars program, organized with New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Wachovia Bank, and the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA).