Citizen’s Opportunity for Development and Equality (CODE), along with The NRP Group, a privately held national multi-family housing development firm, are proposing to build the Jackson Spring Housing Project (which is expected to have 36 apartments and 8 town houses) in a high-crime area. It is irresponsible to have a concentrated low-income area within a high-crime area. Crime gravitates towards disadvantaged areas and low-income individuals living in these communities are more likely to be victims. Why spend 11-million-dollars to build housing that forces people to live a high-crime location? It almost seems cruel.

“Jamestown is not going to ever find its way out of the dilemma of falling property values by adding more net housing supply, or by just making it more possible for struggling families to live in Jamestown.” (http://www.gebbie.org/pdfs/Final–Report-neighborhood–plan.pdf) The Apple Yard Terrace area and other concentrated low-income areas within the city have disproportionately higher crime rates than average income areas of the city. At the last meeting I attended on December 6th, Patrick Morris (CODE Inc. executive director) stated that the new units will need to have central air-conditioning not just to regulate temperature, but to help keep the apartment windows closed and locked in the summer so they are more secure and safe. This location is not conducive to a safe and family-friendly place to live.

Our police department size is dangerously low. New York’s average is 3 officers for every 1000 residents. JPD should have a minimum of 90 officers and they currently have 60! This combined with our city’s above average crime rate can lead to police being overwhelmed. (http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Jamestown-New-York.html) I encourage everyone who lives in the city to contact your council representative and voice your opinion or attend the next city council meeting.

Demolishing dilapidated buildings is a must. We need to expand our demolition program while simultaneously assisting homeowners in keeping property maintained. Increasing the low-income population in high crime areas is irresponsible. We need to build a strong economy and focus on helping people become employable so they can take advantage of the comparatively low housing costs in our area.

“Millions of Americans cannot obtain jobs that pay enough to lift them out of poverty. For many, the principal barrier to obtaining these good jobs is their lack of specialized occupational skills increasingly sought by employers”. (http://www.hamiltonproject.org/papers/providing–disadvantaged–workers–with–skills–to–succeed–in–labor–market) CODE’s mission is to promote revitalization activities in designated neighborhoods in Western New York by:

¯ Cleaning, repairing or renovating substandard properties and bringing them into compliance with building codes so as to provide safe, clean and affordable housing for low income families, the elderly, the disabled and others.

¯ Providing an opportunity with our Affordable Housing Program for how ownership by qualified individuals who might not otherwise realize the dream of owning a home.

¯ Providing information and assistance to individuals and groups as a means of effectuating revitalization activities and enhancing the community. (http://codeinc.org/)

Clearly, with respect to the housing project, CODE is not focusing on their mission. “Within the Jamestown market, there is too much excess housing. This trend will grow as more and more older structures become physically obsolete, either too costly to upgrade or too unappealing to undertake”. (http://www.gebbie.org/pdfs/Final–Report-neighborhood–plan.pdf)

The cynic in me is beginning to think that CODE and the NRP Group, along with their unknown investors, are purely interested in making a profit. (http://www.nrpgroup.com/Capabilities.aspx?id=investmentservices) Are they seeking out low income areas because they are more financial advantageous to acquire and develop? Can they negotiate lower property taxes and not worry about negative impacts it may have because the investors are basically absentee landlords? In return, the remainder of the property owners will have to pay more property tax and cover the associated costs to keep the area safe. Furthermore, taxpayers will have to take on the additional costs to our infrastructure. Will our current and probably old sewage, electrical, water and waste water lines even be capable to handle the added capacity of such a large complex? We should encourage studies showing how this building will affect our infrastructure, what the added costs will be, and who will be responsible for future maintenance. Local politicians seem willing to approve the project so they can say they took a section of the city that is in disrepair and made it look nice. Any improvements to the neighborhood will be purely superficial and offer no benefit to the individuals’ or community’s long-term advancement or financial independence and stability. On the contrary, owner-occupied houses are more stable for both the individual and community and supports CODE’s mission.

Although I am not a landlord, I know several people who are respectable landlords in our community. Many of them work very hard to keep their property well maintained. By taking potential tenants away and reducing their rental income we are providing them with less money to reinvest in the property. Thus, resulting in a lower property value and less tax revenue for the city. This is especially disheartening when the city gives tax incentives to nonprofit companies who make money off low-income, disadvantaged community members.

There were members of the city council in attendance at the CODE informational meeting. None of them spoke about the 11-million-dollar project or any impact it may have on our community; I’m sure they developed a sense of concern for the project after listening to several of our community members that spoke at the standing-room only meeting.

Our mayor has yet to speak substantially about Jamestown’s high crime rate or recent fatal and violent events. What changes, if any, will he be implementing to combat this problem that is plaguing our community? Will he allow CODE to continue to increase the already segmented low-income population into a high-crime area of our city? Again, I urge you to contact your council member or attend the next city council meeting. Please look at the City of Jamestown’s website (http://www.jamestownny.net/) and read about what our council has been discussing.

Michael Laurin is a Jamestown resident and homeowner.