Melrose Community Needs & Actions Report
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Melrose Community Needs & Actions Report November 2016 E. 163rd Street in Melrose. Photo by Jared Gruenwald WHEDco?s third affordable housing development in the Bronx will be in the Melrose neighborhood. To better understand and help meet the needs of the Melrose community, WHEDco conducted a community needs assessment. This report presents the findings of the assessment survey, their possible implications, as well as reflections on WHEDco?s scope of work in Melrose. INTRODUCTION The Women's Housing and Economic Devel- opment Corporation (WHEDco) works with families in the Bronx who aspire to a healthy, financially stable future, but who sometimes struggle with the multiple challenges that living in low income communities may present. WHEDco?s mission is to give the Bronx greater access to resources that create beautiful and thriving communities? from sustainable and affordable homes, high-quality early education and after-school programs, and fresh, healthy Figure 1: Melrose Survey Area (one mile radius) food, to cultural programming and economic opportunity. available, data from Bronx Community Dis- tricts 1 and 3 were used. In 2016, WHEDco will break ground on its third development, located in the Melrose commu- The first section of this report provides some nity of the South Bronx. Bronx Commons, a context on the Melrose neighborhood and 426,000 square foot mixed-use development, discusses the needs assessment in further will feature over 300 affordable apartments, a detail. The next segment summarizes the green roof, a restaurant/cafe and other com- survey results: it describes the survey mercial space, an outdoor plaza, and the Bronx participants and discusses respondents? needs Music Heritage Center (BMHC). The BMHC and interests as they relate to service and venue will feature flexible performance space programming areas, and then addresses their that accommodates at least 250 seats (adapt- feelings and desires for their neighborhood. able to music, dance, theater and film), class- The next section analyzes the potential rooms, recording facilities, community space, implications of the findings in relation to and interactive exhibits. WHEDco?s community development efforts, which focus on youth, health, economic In order to better understand and meet the opportunity, housing, and quality of life. The needs of the community it serves, WHEDco report concludes with an overall reflection on joined with the Partnership for a Healthier WHEDco?s work in Melrose. Bronx at Bronx Health REACH to conduct the Melrose Community Needs Assessment from 2013 to 2014, and began implementing initia- tives as a result in 2015. Together, we surveyed "In 2016, WHEDco will break ground 1,000 people who live, work, or attend school on its third development, located in within a one-mile radius of the Bronx Com- the Melrose community of the mons site. This one-mile radius (shown in Fig- South Bronx" ure 1) will be referred to as the ?Survey Area? throughout this report. When information for the one-mile radius around the site was un- MELROSE COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT| 2 THE M ELROSE NEIGHBORHOOD Third Avenue in Melrose Melrose is located in the southwestern section innovation in music genres such as jazz, be- of the Bronx, within Community Districts 1 and bop, mambo, salsa, R&B, and hip hop over 3. New York City school districts 7, 8, 9 and 12 time. encompass Melrose. The 40th and the 42nd But by the 1970s, the area underwent a demo- police precincts serve this area. Melrose?s city graphic shift as middle class families moved to council districts include districts 16 and 17, and the suburbs, leaving behind a disproportion- its designated zip codes include 10451, 10455, ately low-income population, comprised largely and 10456. of people of color. This shift led to a shrinking The Melrose neighborhood has experienced tax base and reduced resources to allot to significant changes throughout its history. In public services. The South Bronx soon became the 1890s, the neighborhood received a large a national symbol for urban decay, as vacant influx of new residents with the annexation of lots and fires littered the community. Melrose into New York City and the construc- Since the late 1980s, there has been significant tion of elevated and mass transit. This time investment from the government, the private period overlapped with the construction of sector and local community organizations into Yankee Stadium and the Bronx County Court- the Melrose community. This collaboration has house, which established this corridor as one led to new development and the transforma- of the most vital in the Bronx (NYC Department tion of large areas of Melrose. Although Mel- of City Planning, 2014). Third Avenue and Mel- rose is a fast-growing neighborhood, account- rose Avenue were also at the center of retail ing for a third of the borough?s population and social activity, adding to the vibrancy of growth and surpassing New York City?s growth the area. Meanwhile, the diversity found in the rate, socioeconomic challenges persist. Melrose community allowed for discovery and 3 | MELROSE COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT Table 1. Melrose statistics compared to The Bronx and New York City The Survey Area -the one-mile radius around (before age 75) in the borough (New York the Bronx Commons site- has a population of State Department of Health, 2014). While 223,331. Its median household income is un- crime rates have been steadily declining in the der $22,000 a year, which is lower than that of Survey Area, safety continues to be a concern the Bronx and New York City (Larisa Ortiz As- for the Bronx Commons area and for the sociates, 2015). In 2010, 40% of its residents Bronx as a whole (WXY Architecture + Urban were living below the poverty line, more than Design and BJH Advisors, 2012). double New York City?s rate of 18.7%. Mean- while, 14% of the population is unemployed, a rate higher than the borough and the City. The population is also fairly young. In 2015, just over 30% of the Survey Area?s residents were under the age of 18, compared to 27% in "Amidst these challenges, the Bronx and 22% in the City (Larisa Ortiz As- community- based organiza- sociates, 2015). Sixty-three percent of these tions such as WHEDco have an youths graduate high school within four years, with 14% dropping out of school during this opportunity to improve the period (SBRT, 2014). Moreover, 42% of resi- lives of residents through sus- dents 25 and older have yet to obtain their tainable and interconnected high school diploma or GED (WXY Architecture + Urban Design and BJH Advisors, 2012). efforts that integrate and en- The area?s residents also face challenges re- gage the community." lated to health and safety. The South Bronx is particularly affected by high asthma rates, HIV, and obesity-related diseases according to the New York State Department of Health. Cancer, heart disease, diabetes and AIDS are among the leading causes of premature death MELROSE COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT | 4 THE ASSESSM EN T WHEDco has worked for more than 20 inform the development of a Melrose years to rebuild healthy, thriving community survey. Between the fall of communities in the South Bronx. WHEDco?s 2013 and the spring of 2014, WHEDco led a efforts in the Melrose community are Melrose community survey to identify key rooted in this mission. In 2016, WHEDco concerns for residents as well as people will break ground on Bronx Commons, a who work or attend school in Melrose. mixed-use development that not only The brief survey was gathered from street seeks to meet the need for affordable and intercepts (376), Melrose organizations/ sustainable housing options in the area, meetings (279), Bronx Health REACH and but also to celebrate the rich musical WHEDco programs (199), Survey Monkey heritage of the Bronx. via email (113), and faith based Along with providing approximately 300 organizations (33). The street surveys were affordable green homes, the Bronx conducted in person by WHEDco and Commons development will offer open Bronx Health REACH staff, with a majority space for recreation. Additionally, the of surveys administered during the Bronx Music Heritage Center will showcase workday, therefore capturing residents the vibrant and varied cultural legacy of the who were available during this time frame Bronx, making Bronx Commons and and who may be most in need of services Melrose a destination for the arts. WHEDco and programming. also seeks to provide support for the These in-person surveys served as a first Melrose community through programming step in reaching out to residents of the and services in education and youth Melrose community. Findings from the development, small business development, survey are discussed in the next section of and social services. this report, and are being utilized to help In order to provide a contextual WHEDco identify areas of need in the foundation for the development of Bronx community and to allow for effective Commons, WHEDco initiated a community planning. needs assessment of Melrose to ensure a development that is well-planned and responsive to the community?s needs. Beginning in the summer of 2013, WHEDco and survey partner Bronx Health REACH initiated meetings with area community-based organizations to help 5 | MELROSE COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY FINDINGS THE PARTICIPANTS KR3T's hip-hop dancers lead a cypher at Bronx Music @ Melrose 2016 on E. 161st Street Demographics (WXY Architecture + Urban De- One thousand people who live, sign and BJH Advisors, 2012). HOUSEHOLDS work, or go to school within the The median age of respondents WITH CHILDREN Survey Area ? zip codes 10451, was 40 years old. All partici- 10455, 10456? were surveyed pants that were surveyed were Melrose has a high proportion between the Fall of 2013 and 18 years of age or older, which of households with children Spring of 2014.