Improving the Community

Making the community a better place to live is a major goal of local governments. In one way, of course, all public services help improve the community. As you learned in Chapter Four, user-focused services (like waste disposal and criminal investigation) help not only the people who use the service directly, but also their neighbors and even people who only work, shop or travel through the community. Most public services help both people who use them directly and the community at large.

	Photo by the City of Raleigh
	A city worker cares for the grounds in Raleigh. Well- maintained parks beautify many North Carolina communities.

This chapter focuses on services that have no direct users. These services are specifically intended to help make the entire community better. Planting flowers in public areas, encouraging economic development, and improving human relations are examples of these "community-focused" services. They are intended to change the physical, economic, or social setting in which people live and work. These services are designed for the benefit of an entire neighborhood or other community. This chapter discusses programs that improve physical conditions, economic conditions, and social conditions in the community.

Governments can support community improvement in three ways: by delivering public service, by encouraging private action, and by regulating private behavior. Take the problem of litter as an example. Litter is trash that is thrown out along streets or roads or in other public places. In the public service approach to litter control, a government gets someone to pick up the litter. The government may encourage people to volunteer to pick up litter. (For example, the North Carolina Department of Transportation's "Adopt a Highway" program encourages community organizations and businesses to pick up trash voluntarily along rural roads all across the state.) Or the government may assign its employees to pick up litter. A second approach is for government to encourage people not to throw trash away in public places. "Keep Our City Beautiful" campaigns are an example of this alternative. Finally, governments can try to control litter through regulation—making littering illegal and imposing fines on people who are convicted of littering.

This chapter focuses on the first two approaches: public service and public encouragement of private action as ways to make the community better. Chapter 6 addresses government regulation of private behavior.

THE COMMUNITY'S PHYSICAL CONDITION

Local governments often seek to change or protect the physical condition of their communities. To do this, local governments establish programs to protect people and property from natural hazards and pests, as well as programs to make their communities more attractive places to live and work.

In many places, local governments build and maintain drainage ditches or levees to help prevent flooding. Coastal towns have programs to replenish the sand on eroded beaches. Cities in the piedmont and mountains have programs to remove snow and ice from their streets. These services are typically carried out by the local government's public works department.

Counties throughout the state have programs to control mosquitoes, rats, stray dogs, and other potentially harmful animals. The county health department sprays for mosquitoes and poisons rats. Many local governments also have an animal control office. However, voluntary animal protection societies often contract with local government to operate shelters for dogs and other stray animals and to encourage responsible pet ownership.

Historic preservation programs identify and protect buildings and areas that have special significance in a community. These programs encourage pride in the community and its heritage and help to keep old buildings and neighborhoods from becoming run-down (or to fix up those that are run-down). Local governments support historic preservation in several ways. Many governments have sponsored building inventories to identify and describe buildings of historic or architectural interest. Publication of the inventory may encourage the owners of listed buildings to maintain those buildings in good condition or even to restore them to their original appearance.

	Photo by David Rolfe / ©Winston-Salem Journal
	The Holly Avenue historic district in Winston-Salem is one of many in the state that preserves buildings from the past.

Local governments can also provide incentives for maintaining and restoring historic buildings, such as making low-interest loans available. Banks or other local companies may also join with local government in support of historic preservation or other efforts to prevent the deterioration or to encourage the restoration of neighborhoods.

Sometimes buildings are in such poor condition that they are beyond repair and unsafe to use. Local governments can buy these buildings and demolish them to remove the hazard.

Government beautification programs include planting trees and flowers, and installing public art displays, flags, and holiday decorations. Litter control may involve providing convenient trash baskets or litter pickup. Efforts like these are often paid for by counties or municipalities and carried out by government employees. Sometimes, however, the government might hire a private company to do the work or assign the work to people who have been convicted of driving while intoxicated or other offenses.

Local governments also encourage garden clubs or civic organizations to do community beautification and litter control. The general public can be encouraged to help, too. Campaigns publicize the benefits of an attractive community and urge people to "pick up, paint up, fix up." Contests to see who can pick up the most litter or produce the most beautiful flower beds provide a way to recognize outstanding efforts. Often, much of the work to improve the physical condition of a community is done by volunteers—people who give their time and effort to making their neighborhoods safer and more attractive.

In the News . . .
Photo by the City of Kannapolis A volunteer leads a group of 100 citizens at an all-day visioning session.
Kannapolis citizens weave a shared vision By Eleanore J. Hajian
In 1998, Kannapolis leaders had a tough dilemma. They had to figure out how to inspire residents to participate in civic life and support their city government in a former mill town with a strong tradition of corporate paternalism. Kannapolis had endured as the largest unincorporated city in the country (population nearly 30,000) until 1984. Prior to that, Cannon Mills provided water and sewer services, police and fire protection, roads and recreational amenities. The mill also maintained 1,600 company-owned homes and employed most of the town's residents. The corporate paternalism came to a screeching halt when the mill changed ownership in the early 80s, but its legacy continued. Two years ago that legacy began to change as city leaders began a visioning process that drew hundreds of residents.	Last month, that visioning process received the Program Excellence Award for Citizen Involvement at the International City/County Management Association conference in Cincinnati, OH. The award recognizes successful strategies designed to inform citizens about local government services and include them in the decision-making process. ICMA presented the award in the 50,000 and under population category to the city and to City Manager David Hales and Assistant City Manager Greg McGinnis. Weaving A Shared Future, Kannapolis' 18-month visioning process held from May 1998 to October 1999, established a vision center on Main Street where citizens spent more than 1,000 volunteer hours sharing their memories, ideas and dreams for their city. More than 100 volunteers chaired and participated in committees designated as live, work, learn and play. The four committees were charged with finding solutions to the issues Kannapolis faced. The result: a strategic plan to strengthen neighborhoods, add recreational facilities and attract new business to the city.	But Kannapolis gained much more than a good plan, said McGinnis, who served as vision coordinator. "Prior to this visioning process a lot of our residents never really had the opportunity to have a say in what they want the town to be," he said. "It was a citizen-led process. When we had the final presentation of the plan at least 500 people came, and it got a standing ovation from the community." It's an award the city can be proud of, said Mayor Ray Moss. "Because of the hundreds of people who participated in Weaving a Shared Future, we have a vision that will carry us for the next 15 to 20 years and a strategic plan that comes directly from our people," he said. "What's really wonderful about this award is that it recognizes our citizens for their participation and our staff for their hard work." —Excerpted by permission of Southern City November 2000

THE COMMUNITY'S ECONOMIC CONDITION

Local governments are interested in attracting and keeping businesses in their communities because businesses provide jobs and pay taxes. The people in a community need jobs to earn incomes. Taxes paid by businesses can help reduce the taxes residents have to pay to support local government. For these reasons, many local governments seek to play an important part in shaping the community's economy.

Many cities and counties support economic development by helping fund the local chamber of commerce. Chambers of commerce provide information about communities to people who may be interested in doing business there. Links to local chamber of commerce web sites for cities and counties throughout North Carolina are listed at www.edgecombe.cc.nc.us/CHAMBER/OTHERS.HTM.

More than 60 North Carolina counties have formed economic development commissions to improve their local economies. Economic development commissions attract new industries and other businesses and support existing business and industry. The commissions collect information about the local economy and work force, advertise the advantages of their communities, and help businesses organize support they may need from local government and others. For example, the economic development commission may work with businesses, local schools, and community colleges to help the schools and colleges develop job training needed by the businesses. Or the economic development commission may work with a business development corporation to create an industrial park or to renew a downtown area.

For example, in Fayetteville, city and county governments worked with a business development corporation called Fayetteville Progress to improve the city's downtown. Fayetteville Progress was formed by local business leaders to organize the downtown renewal. Fayetteville Progress coordinated the efforts of the City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County and various banks and real estate developers to clear out some old buildings, to remodel others, and to build new offices, stores, and apartments. Asheville, New Bern, Raleigh, Wilmington, and many other cities and towns have also worked with private development corporations to improve their downtowns.

Preparing property for development by installing water lines, sewers, and roads; constructing buildings; offering low-interest loans; coordinating job training with schools and colleges—all these are special efforts to make the community more attractive to business and industry.

In the News . . .
Photo by Southern City The former Scotland Memorial Hospital building in Laurinburg will be evaluated for possible re-use.
Four North Carolina cities aim to wipe out brownfields with EPA grants By Eleanore J. Hajian
The former Scotland Memorial Hospital Building in Laurinburg is one of those places cities and towns dread. It's abandoned. It's falling apart. It's overgrown with vegetation. After 15 years of vandals, derelict owners and mother nature taking their toll, the hospital has become what's called a brownfield—a place that no one wants to or can develop because of perceived or real contamination. In this case, asbestos is the likely suspect. The old hospital is the chief plague of the residential neighborhood, elementary school and park it abuts, bringing crime and vagrants to an otherwise healthy area, said Mayor Ann Slaughter. "It's the biggest eyesore I've ever seen," she said. "It's a nice neighborhood, but we've been left with that." But there's now an end in sight for Laurinburg, which along with Concord received a Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help evaluate the environmental contamination of brownfield sites. Vice President Al Gore in May awarded more than $35 million in grants to 102 communities across the country to clean up brownfields and return them to economically thriving, community hubs. They included 56 Brownfields Assessment Pilot grants totaling more than $12 million.	The grants will provide Concord and Laurinburg $200,000 to assess brownfield properties and develop plans for fixing them up. Both cities also received $50,000 in grant funding exclusively to develop green spaces such as parks. Receiving the grant offers new hope to towns like Laurinburg, said Slaughter. "If the grant can help us to realize what can be done with the building, just knowing the possibilities will mean a great deal to the community and to those outside of the community," she said. "Just having the money to evaluate it and knowing what the real cost will be to someone who may be interested in developing it means a lot." The city plans to use the grant money to assess other sites as well, including a burned out auto shop on Main Street, an abandoned gas station across from the local high school and several industrial and warehouse buildings near the railroad. In Concord, officials plan to use the grant money to transform three city-owned brownfield sites—an electric utility warehouse, a garage and a motor park—into a thriving marketplace, a park with a greenway and a traditional neighborhood.	The grant funding will help Concord complete the first step toward the clean up and redevelopment process, said Susie Zakraisek, a senior planner in community development. Two other North Carolina cities will benefit from EPA brownfield funding. Winston-Salem and Fayetteville each received $500,00 from the Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund pilot. The grants will allow the cities to build on their past efforts by establishing revolving loan funds to provide businesses with low-interest loans for the cleanup and redevelopment of their brownfield sites. Winston-Salem plans to use the money to help revitalize distressed business districts and Fayetteville will concentrate on redeveloping a 54-acre downtown area. For more information on EPA brownfields programs, check out the following Internet site: www.epa.gov/brownfields/pilot.htm or call the EPA Region 4 Brownfields Team at (404) 562-8661. —Reprinted by permission of Southern City October 2000

Groups of cities may also work together to encourage economic development. For example, more than 70 North Carolina cities that operate electric utilities have joined together in an association called ElectriCities. You can read about their economic development activities at www.electricities.com.

Because tourism is a major part of the economy in many parts of North Carolina, some cities and counties devote considerable efforts to make their communities more attractive to tourists. Tourism is especially important to the economy of the mountains, the coast, and the sandhills in the south central piedmont. In addition, all of the largest cities in the state actively seek to host conventions, adding another aspect to the tourism industry.

The 32 cities that belong to the North Carolina Association of Conventions and Visitors Bureaus sponsor a web site (visit.nc.org) and conduct other promotional activities to attract paying visitors to their communities. Many other towns and cities also have programs to attract tourists.

Special efforts to promote tourism include festivals like Spivey's Corners' "Hollerin' Contest" and outdoor dramas like Boone's "Horn in the West." Advertising is important, too. Brochures and maps identify interesting places and events to entice visitors. Coliseums, stadiums, museums, and arts centers also help to attract tourists. Cities and counties support these places, in part at least, for the tourist business they generate.

Historic sites are major tourist attractions throughout North Carolina. One benefit of historic preservation programs is that they help develop and maintain areas of historic interest to tourists. Similarly, community beautification, recreation, and arts programs that local governments support for the benefit of their own residents frequently help attract tourists, too.

These same features may also help attract new businesses and industries. In addition, an abundant supply of safe water, adequate sewage-disposal capacity, good police and fire protection, good schools, and other public services that support a high quality of life are important to business and industry leaders who are looking for new locations for facilities. Thus, good "user-focused" services also contribute to economic development.

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS IN THE COMMUNITY

Local governments also work to improve social relations in their communities. Some local governments have county-wide or city-wide programs to promote understanding among different racial, ethnic, or religious groups and to encourage fair treatment of all people in the community. These efforts may be organized through a human relations commission. Another approach concentrates on improving relations among people in a particular neighborhood. Local governments support these efforts through community action agencies, through neighborhood or residents' associations, or even through police community-relations offices.

In North Carolina most human relations commissions were established to improve race relations. Even today relationships among North Carolinians of African, European, and Native American descent too often continue conflicts that began centuries ago. European settlers fought with Native Americans (whom the English colonists called "Indians") for control of the land. Soon some Europeans began to bring captive Africans here as slaves.

Myths about differences between the races and attitudes about European superiority that began during the Indian wars and during slavery continue to be learned and believed by many people. After the civil war, slavery was abolished and the former slaves became full citizens. Black North Carolinians participated actively in politics and were elected to state and local public offices, as well as to Congress. However, many whites in North Carolina continued to fear and look down on the former slaves (and on the few Native Americans still living in the state). In the late nineteenth century, a white majority in the General Assembly passed laws requiring segregation of the races. These minorities were denied basic civil rights, and government officials even overlooked violence against them. By 1900, few of North Carolina's African American or Native American citizens were able to vote or hold public office.

Not until the 1960s did African American and Native American North Carolinians regain their basic civil rights, including the right to vote. Federal voting-rights laws ended poll taxes and other practices used to keep people from voting. Only then was segregation ended. Many white North Carolinians supported ending segregation and assuring civil rights for all North Carolinians. However, some whites continued to fear African Americans and Native Americans and to feel superior to them. At the same time, some African Americans and Native Americans continued to resent whites because of a long history of discrimination and mistreatment.

Human relations commissions were established primarily to find ways to ease racial tensions and to eliminate racial discrimination. The commissions hold public meetings to discuss potential problems among racial groups. Much of their work is getting people of different races to talk and listen to one another. The commissions try to help people realize that cultural differences do not need to be threatening and to help them see the individuality of people whose race is different from their own. Getting beyond the racial stereotype to see the individual person is an important step in eliminating racism.

Human relations commissions also deal with other problems of intolerance and discrimination based on race, ethnic group, religion, or gender. In recent years, new immigrants have come to North Carolina from Latin America and from Asia. Sometimes they are the subject of discrimination or abuse by others who fear or resent them because of their race or origin.

Also, there is a growing variety of religious affiliations in North Carolina. Protestants remain the largest group, but there are also Catholics and people of other Christian denominations, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and people of many other religions now living in the state. Human relations commissions try to help promote understanding of other religions and to prevent acts of religious discrimination.

A somewhat different social problem concerns relationships between women and men. Many deeply held attitudes about the roles of men and women developed when almost all women were married and worked full time at home. In recent years these social patterns have changed. Now most women work outside the home. Many women are single heads of households. Laws and social expectations about how men should treat women are changing. Married women now have the same property rights as their husbands, for example. Domestic violence is no longer treated as a "family" matter, but is now the crime of assault—a matter for the police and the courts to deal with. Human relations commissions help set up ways for men and women who are concerned about these changes to communicate with each other in order to understand each other better.

Photo by the City of Raleigh
Police help encourage community cooperation by getting to know the residents and helping them work together to make their neighborhood a safer place.

Local governments may also work with residents of a neighborhood to build trust and a sense of responsibility for one another. Crime and other social problems are often greatest in areas where people do not trust their neighbors or do not believe that they can or should do anything for each other. Community Action Programs and other neighborhood-based programs help people work together on projects to benefit the neighborhood. Residents' councils can promote cooperation and improvement in public housing or help youth fight drug abuse.

Police can also encourage neighborhood cooperation. For example, Greensboro police set up Police Neighborhood Resource Centers in the city's public housing communities. Each of these police mini-stations has two officers who are permanently assigned there. The officers patrol the housing communities on foot and get to know the residents. In addition to criminal investigations and emergency response services, these officers help residents get the social services and health services they need. Some services are even provided right in the mini-station. The officers also organize recreation for neighborhood youth. As a result of the police officers' efforts, people have begun to trust each other and the police, increasing residents' willingness to report crimes, ask for police assistance, and assist the police. This increased cooperation with police reduces crime and makes the neighborhood safer for all the residents.

In the News . . .
Photo by the City of Greensboro Housing and Community Development Department During Project Homestead's second Housing Blitz, more than 400 volunteers worked three days on 50 homes. The Blitz helps meet the demand for homes under $85,000.
Greensboro's long-term commitment to affordable housing aids families and builds strong neighborhoods By Eleanore Hajian
With a strong commitment to affordable housing and neighborhood development programs that goes back 50 years, Greensboro has seen the change such programs can make to a city or town, and the people who live there. Since the city dedicated one cent of its property taxes to the effort, programs administered by Greensboro's Housing and Community Development Department have helped thousands of low- and mid-income families buy homes for the first time and rehabilitate existing homes. City support has also helped several nonprofit agencies build thousands of affordable homes. Other department programs have helped renovate hundreds of apartments, historic homes and improve neighborhoods. The nationally acclaimed efforts have enabled Greensboro to boast what few towns and cities can. "This is a community with no real slums," said Andrew Scott, HCD director. "We have some really bad stuff here and there, but there's precious little of the bad slums you see in other places. We do not have a lot of the apparent problems other cities have."	The city's long-standing public policy emphasizing the need for strong neighborhoods and quality housing for all Greensboro residents, has made it possible to reinvest in and protect the city's housing stock, Scott said. But the effort goes beyond providing physical structures, and so do the benefits the effort brings to the community, said Rhonda Enoch, a housing counselor who helps clients qualify and prepare for home ownership. "This program has produced stability for families in this community and given them some sense of wealth," she said. "It makes the city a better place to live. You can live anywhere in the city limits and not feel that your family is in danger of losing life or property." Owning a home can do a lot for a family, especially the children, Scott said. "One of our clients said her son gets off the school bus differently now," he said. "People take more of an interest in things in neighborhoods where they own."	For many clients, the purchase of a home through HCD provides the boost they need to achieve financial stability and get ahead. A lot of times an HCD loan enables people to purchase homes earlier in their lives. Many clients have moved on to purchase bigger homes in later years. More older residents have been able to stay in their ailing homes because of housing rehabilitation assistance. Another impact has been an increased willingness of Realtors and lenders to work a lower end market. "They know that Rhonda is here, and they will work with people," Scott said. Ninety-nine percent of the people who come through our door end up qualifying." The bottom line is that because of Greensboro's housing and community development programs, more city residents have better lives, and that's a benefit that's hard to measure, Scott said. "They are the kind of intangibles that it's hard to put a finger on, but you definitely see quality of life enhancements," he said. —Reprinted by permission of Southern City January 2001

DECIDING WHAT TO DO

People sometimes disagree about what local government should do to improve the community. One source of disagreement is differences about how much change is desirable. Some people might want more ditching or beach erosion-control devices, but others might want to limit human interference with natural drainage or beach movement. Another source of disagreement concerns the relative importance of various public programs. Some people place high value on an attractive community and want to see public funds spent on improving community appearance. Others may argue that public funds should be spent on other public services that they consider more important. People might also differ about the kinds of new industry that government should encourage or even whether additional economic development is good for their community. People might also have different views about desirable social relations in the community.

Proposals for public programs to improve the community are usually presented long before any action is taken. Often, an initial discussion at a meeting of the city council or board of county commissioners introduces a proposal to both elected officials and the public. Proposals may be developed by the city or county manager, by other staff members, by appointed advisory boards, by elected officials, or by private citizens.

News reporters play an important part in spreading word of a new proposal to the public. Stories in newspapers or on radio or television inform people in the community about the proposal. Groups of people with similar interests may also pay particular attention to the topics discussed by the governing board and alert their members when an issue of particular concern comes up. For example, the local real estate dealers' association and environmental protection groups like the Sierra Club might both be interested in a proposed change in drainage ditches, although for different reasons. The real estate agents might support the plan in order to protect buildings or to create more building sites. On the other hand, the environmental protection groups might oppose the plan because they fear it would harm wildlife or water quality.

People who favor or oppose a proposal can express their concerns about it in various ways. They may write letters to the editor or give interviews to news reporters. They may speak to friends and to members of groups with whom they share common interests. They may speak at public meetings or talk to the city or county manager or other staff members. Most importantly, however, they must communicate their concerns to members of the local government's governing board. The elected representatives on the governing board have the authority and the responsibility to decide whether or not to approve the proposal. People call or write their elected representatives and present petitions signed by many voters to express their opinions about a proposal. According to North Carolina's "Open Meetings Law," the governing board's meetings must be open to the public. Thus, reporters can cover the debates and publicize the arguments for and against proposed programs. Proponentsand opponents can attend these meetings and express their opinions to elected officials.

Often, plans are changed to reflect the concerns of opponents while continuing to meet the most important objectives of the proponents. Sometimes, however, elected officials are unable or unwilling to adopt a program that pleases everyone. Opponents who feel strongly about the plan may continue to try to prevent it even after it has been adopted. They might file a lawsuit, asking the courts to stop work on the program. Or they might campaign against representatives who voted for the program, hoping to elect new members of the governing board who will vote to stop the program. Of course, those who supported the proposal are likely to continue their interest in it and to go on backing the members of the board who voted for the plan.

Once a program has been authorized by the governing board, local government employees begin to carry it out. Many approaches to community betterment also require active public cooperation to succeed. The organized cooperation of businesses, community groups, schools, and other parts of the community is very important for many community improvement activities. Programs that are designed to encourage people to fix up their property, pick up litter, or work with their neighbors to improve community relations all depend on the people in a community for their success.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What programs does your city or county have to improve its physical condition?
   

2. What programs does your city or county have to improve its economic condition?
   

3. What programs does your city or county have to improve its social condition?
   

4. How could you, your family, or your school help with any of these community improvement programs?
   

Local Government in North Carolina, Second Edition - Chapter 5, Improving the Community.
Copyright © 2003 by Gordon P. Whitaker and the North Carolina City and County Management Association.