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Investment Must Be Made By Neighborhood Residents

Jamestown’s lackluster housing market affects more than just the city residents looking for decent housing.

The city’s taxable property value fell slightly from $672 million to $665 million between 2007 and 2015, according to a recent czb LLC analysis commissioned by the Jamestown Renaissance Corp. Had the tax base kept past with inflation, it would have climbed to $768 million by 2015. That lost value equals roughly $2.5 million in city tax payments at the city’s current tax rate — or enough money to pay for 20 or more additional police officers, the demolition of 100 vacant and blighted homes, reconstructed five miles of sidewalks or to acquire and rehabilitate 15 or more troubled houses.

Jamestown needs big ticket economic development projects to boost the tax base, but it also needs smaller reinvestments that boost property values in residential neighborhoods. The upcoming Jamestown Renaissance Block Challenge 2.0 could be just the reinvestment needed for four city neighborhoods identified as being on the cusp of decline. JRC officials plan to focus on the northside of the city around Lakeview Avenue area along North Main Street; the western gateway around Fairmount, Hall and Livingston avenues; the area around Hazeltine/Forest avenues; and Allen Park and UPMC Chautauqua WCA along Foote Avenue with a five-year commitment to fix or remove blighted properties; prioritized street maintenance and tree planting and targeted code enforcement. JRC officials are hoping to partner with the city, Chautauqua Opportunities Inc., CODE, CHRIC, the Chautauqua County Land Bank and Habitat for Humanity.

Statistics indicate the longer-term investment should pay off. Between the 2007-10 period and the 2014-16 period, average prices in areas with intensive intervention by the JRC and its partners saw a 5 percent increase in home sales prices. Areas with no intervention saw a 1.7 percent increase while areas with limited intervention saw a 13.2 percent decrease in home sales prices. Obviously, some neighborhoods need a multi-year program to effect the type of change that can save a neighborhood. While the Jamestown Renaissance Corp. and its partners are important parts of the program, it will go nowhere without participation of neighborhood residents.

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