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PRIORITY GOAL #1: NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION <br /> Summary of Goal #1: A community is a collection of neighborhoods and districts, <br /> woven around its commercial and industrial uses. But a communiry is more than the <br /> sum of its parts. Different elements of a city must work together holistically to make <br /> the city vibrant. If key parts of the city—like some of its older neighborhoods—are <br /> not functioning well,the entire city suffers. Many of Decatur's urban core <br /> neighborhoods now require more than just a"make-over."They need to be remade <br /> into residential and commercial destinations people want to live in,transact <br /> business in,and where a new lifestyle can be created that transforms these <br /> neighborhoods into the focus of Decatur's revival. <br /> Discussion. Some of Decatur's older neighborhoods have fallen into differing states <br /> of decline. In some instances,what were once attractive and well-maintained, <br /> mostly owner-occupied, neighborhoods are now experiencing urban blight.A <br /> significant number of properties in blighted urban core neighborhoods have <br /> transitioned to rentals,and in too many instances landlords do not make <br /> investments in their properties adequate for long-term maintenance. In some <br /> neighborhoods,the number of vacant and uninhabitable houses has become <br /> � alarming. Population decline and an exodus of commercial activity from key <br /> neighborhoods are obvious contributing factors.Without intervention,many of <br /> these neighborhoods will continue to decline.The appropriate interventions will <br /> differ from neighborhood to neighborhood.A funding summary for 2020 is below. <br /> The Decatur City Council is committed to making the necessary interventions, and <br /> its number one policy goal is to implement strategies that will change the trajectory <br /> of its urban core neighborhoods so that they can again become assets to the <br /> community—adding to the vibrancy of the city. In May and June of 2019,the <br /> Decatur City Council conducted two study sessions devoted exclusively to <br /> neighborhood revitalization.These sessions were a culmination of more than a year <br /> of public meetings and analysis of the statistical data that explains how many of <br /> Decatur's older neighborhoods became distressed. The resulting"roadmap" has <br /> created a framework for City Council action to span the next several years of nearly <br /> 3-dozen strategies. The strategies are in four groups: <br /> 1. Repurposing land and land uses,and deploying robust code enforcement <br /> 2. Deploying new technologies and upgrading infrastructure in target areas <br /> 3. Incentivizing people to remain in the urban core, or move there,by <br /> improving access to various services <br /> 4. Be more effective at leveraging private investment in the urban core <br /> Success will be measured by improvements in neighborhood equalized assessed <br /> values, increases in homeownership, more properties in the urban core used <br /> productively, decreases in crime, improvements in the condition of existing housing <br /> stocks, and changes in total population by census tract. Neighborhood Revitalization <br /> is a complicated undertaking because no single strategy will turn the tide. The <br /> demolition of derelict structures is essential; but it must be followed by new or <br />