Transportation is no longer an issue and help is close at hand in a crisis. But established neighborhoods are often wary of low-income or challenging newcomers. Because of client confidentiality considerations, agencies often cannot provide people with much information about a given facility. But when they can, the Siting Dispute Resolution Program appears to offer a chance for understanding. The eight-month pilot project that ended in September brought neighbors, developers, social service workers and residents of proposed facilities together to hash out worries and ease fears.
Mediators say the first step in resolving a dispute is giving participants the tools for dialogue.
There is a longing and a need in many communities to talk about policy and how to share the load of these facilities but little understanding of how to begin, they say. For example, Portland mediators worked hard to hammer out an agreement between developers of a proposed low-income housing project and residents of Portland's Boise neighborhood. Upset with how similar facilities nearby were being managed, neighbors in the low-income community were at odds with the idea of another one. We then came up with a workable neighborhood agreement that talks about how the facility would be managed, and how they would work together. In the Concordia neighborhood, mediators brought developers planning to build a drug store together with neighbors who wanted a grocery store.