Southern Boulevard Neighborhood Study: What We Heard - DCP

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Southern Boulevard Neighborhood Study

Study Summary What We Heard Study Process

Read the key community issues and priorities.

Throughout the conversations held in the three-year planning process, community members voiced many concerns, values, and ideas. Read a summary of the key issues and priorities we heard from the community here, including everything from the high costs of housing and gentrification and displacement fears to safety to the needs for the area's young people.

Community Vision

The neighborhoods along Southern Boulevard are made up of strong, culturally-rich communities with people of all ages and backgrounds. All enjoy equitable access to resources and opportunities that maximize a high quality of life. The neighborhoods’ history and cultural roots are celebrated, and the community is healthy, safe, and connected.

Goals and Objectives to Reach the Vision

Preserve and invest in existing community assets

Address longstanding health and economic inequities in the community by focusing on root causes

Ensure that this is a great place for young people to grow up and for seniors to age in place

Connect people to each other, resources, opportunities, and assets

To advance these goals, the City and Southern Boulevard community identified a set of actionable objectives across five themes: housing, jobs and business, parks, streets and public space, community resources and health, and land use.

Use the dropdown menus to read each objective or explore our illustrated goals and objectives to see how they all come together.

Housing Objectives

Preserve existing housing affordability for the Southern Boulevard study area’s current residents

Protect residents from harassment by holding landlords accountable and increasing awareness of tenant rights and resources

Prevent and combat inequitable health outcomes related to poor housing quality

Promote the creation of housing, affordable to all income levels

Make it easier for people of all backgrounds to access housing resources and successfully apply for affordable housing

Support low- and moderate-income homeowners and expand home ownership opportunities

Support local economic growth through housing development

Pandemic Lens: As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, what are some questions to ask about how we could think about these objectives differently?

How has lost employment created new or worse housing challenges for area renters and homeowners?

What new housing challenges has the pandemic caused or exacerbated?

Jobs and Business Objectives

Promote training and job readiness opportunities for in-demand and growing industries

Strengthen and support local businesses

Foster a strong business environment that can attract diverse retailers to serve the needs of the community

Support welcoming and safe commercial corridors for local shoppers on Southern Boulevard, Westchester Avenue, and 174th Street

Pandemic Lens: As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, what are some questions to ask about how we could think about these objectives differently?

How can small businesses be connected to the information and resources they need to recover, adapt, and thrive?

What new jobs and opportunities will arise and how can residents be connected to and prepared for them?

Parks, Streets and Public Space Objectives

Make the street network safer for all users

Improve connections to local assets including parks and the Bronx River

Improve existing public spaces and parks in the community, increasing green space where possible

Ensure public spaces and parks are flexible to accommodate multiple uses for a range of ages and abilities

Better maintain streets, sidewalks, parks, and other public spaces

Pandemic Lens: As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, what are some questions to ask about how we could think about these objectives differently?

How has the use of streets and access to open space changed in importance because of the pandemic?

How can public spaces help residents achieve better health and quality of life?

Community Resources and Health

Increase awareness of existing health care and social services

Make healthy food options available

Promote community health and wellness by increasing access to health services and spaces for physical activity

Promote safety measures to discourage crime and support a safe community

Prevent incarceration and provide support for those returning from incarceration

Create a greener, cleaner, safer environment

Support local education needs and make educational, recreational, and engaging programming available for all ages

Highlight local history, the arts, and culture

Pandemic Lens: As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, what are some questions to ask about how we could think about these objectives differently?

What are the new health challenges for those recovering from COVID-19?

What additional programming and other resources will be needed to make up for the disruption in education caused by the pandemic?

Land Use Objectives

Promote the creation of housing, affordable to all income levels

Create new opportunities for housing near transit and along major corridors

Support Southern Boulevard as a continuous commercial spine of the neighborhoods that surround it

Reconnect the community to the Bronx River, ensuring that the waterfront is welcoming and accessible to all, human-scaled, and respectful of the river’s character

Respect the context of the lower scale residential areas

Pandemic Lens: As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, what are some questions to ask about how we could think about these objectives differently?

How can land use encourage the open space and building design needs that the pandemic illuminated?

How can land use support new development that meets the housing and service needs in the community?

Land Use Vision

View the land use vision map

Through past planning processes including this one, the community has established a number of broad goals and priorities. One way to achieve those goals could be through changes to land use and the zoning that guides it. More than 80% of the zoning districts in the area have not been re-evaluated or changed since the passage of the Zoning Resolution in 1961.

The land use vision map displays a long-term vision of the study area, including areas of growth, major corridors, and connections to transit and parks. This may serve as a guide for shaping future land use conversations.

Illustrative Goals and Objectives

These illustrations show potential visions for the neighborhoods surrounding Southern Boulevard. They capture how the goals and objectives are interconnected and could be achieved. The locations selected are for imaginative purposes only.

Click or tap on the labels for a description of each objective.

Goal 1: Preserve and invest in existing community assets

The communities along Southern Boulevard are rich with existing assets of culture, art, architecture, parks, institutions, local businesses, and most importantly, its people. Throughout the process, community members made it clear that these important facets of their communities not only should be protected but invested in to ensure that current and future generations can take part in them.

Parks Objective 3

Improve existing public spaces and parks in the community, increasing greenspace where possible

Land Use Objective 2

Create new opportunities for housing near transit and along major corridors

Land Use Objective 1

Promote the creation of housing, affordable to all income levels

Community Objective 7

Support local education needs and make educational, recreational, and engaging programming available for all ages

Parks Objective 5

Better maintain streets, sidewalks, parks, and other public spaces

Jobs Objective 2

Strengthen and support local businesses

Housing Objective 1

Preserve existing housing affordability for the Southern Boulevard study area’s current residents

Housing Objective 6

Support low- and moderate-income homeowners and expand home ownership opportunities

Land Use Objective 3

Respect the context of the lower scale residential areas

Community Objective 8

Highlight local history, the arts, and culture

Goal 2: Address longstanding health and economic inequities in the community by focusing on root causes

The communities along Southern Boulevard have long been affected by health and economic inequities due to institutionally racist policies such as the federal mortgage lending practice of redlining, highway construction, disinvestment, and stop-and-frisk policing. Community members emphasized how poor health and economic outcomes affect their daily lives and how solutions that get at the root of the issue could go a long way in addressing these inequities.

Community Objective 1

Increase awareness of existing health care and social services

Community Objective 2

Make healthy food options available

Housing Objective 7

Support local economic growth through housing development

Jobs Objective 3

Foster a strong business environment that can attract diverse retailers to serve the needs of the community

Community Objective 6

Create a greener, cleaner, safer environment

Parks Objective 3

Improve existing public spaces and parks in the community, increasing green space where possible

Parks Objective 2

Improve connections to local assets including parks and the Bronx River

Community Objective 3

Promote community health and wellness by increasing access to health services and spaces for physical activity

Housing Objective 2

Protect residents from harassment by holding landlords accountable and increasing awareness of tenant rights and resources

Housing Objective 3

Prevent and combat inequitable health outcomes related to poor housing quality

Community Objective 5

Prevent incarceration and provide support for those returning from incarceration

Goal 3: Ensure that this is a great place for young people to grow up and for seniors to age in place

The communities along Southern Boulevard have a very young population (almost 40% of residents are under the age of 25) and current residents hope that as they become adults, there are ample opportunities to make the neighborhood their home. At the same time, many want to ensure that seniors are able to stay in the community with all of the resources they need to age in place.

Community Objective 7

Support local education needs and make educational, recreational, and engaging programming available for all ages

Land Use Objective 3

Support Southern Boulevard as a continuous commercial spine of the neighborhoods that surround it

Parks Objective 1

Make the street network safer for all users

Jobs Objective 4

Support welcoming and safe commercial corridors for local shoppers on Southern Boulevard, Westchester Avenue, and 174th Street

Community Objective 6

Create a greener, cleaner, safer environment

Community Objective 4

Promote safety measures to discourage crime and support a safe community

Community Objective 3

Promote community health and wellness by increasing access to health services and spaces for physical activity

Parks Objective 4

Ensure public spaces and parks are flexible to accommodate multiple uses for a range of ages and abilities

Community Objective 8

Highlight local history, the arts, and culture

Housing Objective 4

Promote the creation of housing, affordable to all income levels

Goal 4: Connect people to each other, resources, opportunities, and assets

The communities along Southern Boulevard have many assets from parks, to transit, organizations, resources, people, culture, and so much more. However, community members continued to highlight throughout the planning process how hard it can be often be for many to access these places, resources, and opportunities.

Jobs Objective 1

Promote training and job readiness opportunities for in- demand and growing industries

Community Objective 8

Highlight local history, the arts, and culture

Parks Objective 5

Better maintain streets, sidewalks, parks, and other public spaces

Parks Objective 1

Make the street network safer for all users

Parks Objective 2

Improve connections to local assets including parks and the Bronx River

Land Use Objective 4

Reconnect the community to the Bronx River, ensuring that the waterfront is welcoming and accessible to all, human-scaled, and respectful of the river’s character

Housing Objective 5

Make it easier for people of all backgrounds to access housing resources and successfully apply for affordable housing

Land Use Objective 1

Promote the creation of housing, affordable to all income levels