The City of Holyoke is located in the western part of Massachusetts, in the northern section of Hampden County, along the banks of the Connecticut River. Holyoke was the first planned city in the United States and has had a long manufacturing history, as well as a history of diverse populations. Holyoke is the birthplace of volleyball.
The City of Holyoke presents a strategy of non-housing Community Development improvements and services geared to complement its housing strategies as presented in the Executive Summary of the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium. Its One-Year Action Plan includes using its Community development Block Grant (CDBG) funds as follows: $207,683 in public facilities/ public infrastructure improvements, $70,000 for microenterprise business assistance and $270,750 in public services.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
| City of Holyoke | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population: | 43,704 | |||||||||||||
| Hispanic Origin: | 13,573 | (31%) | ||||||||||||
| Housing Units: | 16,917 | |||||||||||||
| 10,684 | (63%)
| 6,233 | (37%)
| Median Family Income (MFI): | $29,366 | Percent of Households
| at or below 80% MFI: 54% | Unemployment Rate (5/94): | 7.9% | | ||||
The City of Holyoke remains committed to addressing non-housing community development needs for which CDBG funds may be used and which provide the necessary complement to its housing activities. The city conducted agency surveys on housing and non-housing needs. In addition, the City completed a Community Action Statement for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Communities and Development which sets forth various municipal needs and a Park and Open Space Plan which highlights recreational needs.
In viewing the data available and CDBG eligibility criteria, the City has determined that it will continue to prioritize the following CDBG categories:
It is necessary to note that the non-housing community development needs of the City of Holyoke are of such nature that they cannot all be addressed with the amount of Community Development Block Grant funds available. It is therefore necessary to link non-housing community development needs with other revitalization efforts in order to accomplish overall objectives.
Central to the assessment of non-housing community development needs is its impact on neighborhood residents and its contribution to the improvement of the physical, social, cultural, civic or economic fabric of the area. The objectives are to complement the housing initiatives and create a more favorable environment for social and economic growth, now and for generations to come. The relative priority of each category in any given time period will depend on its need and its relationship to active neighborhood revitalization efforts.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
For the purposes of this plan, it is expected that the improvement of public facilities will focus primarily on the social and recreational needs of neighborhood residents. Infrastructure improvements will take the primary form of street and sidewalk improvements in areas undergoing other revitalization efforts. The public services category encompasses a vast array of services for low and very low income residents which go hand in hand with physical rehabilitation efforts to improve their quality of life. Economic development efforts will focus primarily on activities to increase employment opportunity for low and very low income residents and stimulate business enterprise. Historic preservation activities will focus on the protection of the cultural identity and the physical history of the area.
The City of Holyoke believes that non-housing community development activities are necessary and vital complements to housing initiatives in the revitalization of neighborhoods and the empowerment of residents. Yet, the City recognizes that in the aggregate, non-housing needs far outweigh the limited amount of CDBG funds available to address them. For that reason, the City will seek to relate the CDBG non-housing activities, either geographically or demographically, with other Consolidated Plan activities supported by CDBG and HOME.
The relative priority need level assigned to a particular non-housing community development category does not necessarily reflect its proposed CDBG funding level. In examining the data, survey responses and agency capacity, the City also considered the extent to which certain needs are, or may be, met with non-HUD resources. The City will seek to strengthen its provider network so that CDBG and other resources work together more efficiently.
The Office for Community Development has been designated as the lead agency
for the coordination and administration of the non-housing community development
activities. The process employed in the development of the non-housing community
development strategy has strengthened working relationships and opened new lines
of communication between the city, neighborhood residents and service providers.
The City will maintain ties with its citizens through its enhanced citizen
participation process and, in many cases, will have a contractual relationship
with service providers to carry out specific activities.
The City of Holyoke strongly believes that the successful implementation of the strategies herein depends upon cooperation among the governmental and private entities, not only to better coordinate housing and non-housing initiatives within the jurisdiction, but also to become more efficient and responsive to the needs of the populations to be served. The coordination of efforts, especially among agencies supported by these limited federal resources, will ultimately be the key to success. The City expects that only through the unified commitment of all agencies to work together, can it bring about effective urban rebirth.
The City of Holyoke's Housing Objectives and priorities are presented in the Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium. The Non-Housing Community Development priorities presented herein have been designed to complement those housing priorities and engender a holistic approach to neighborhood revitalization.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
GOALS:
GOAL:
To continue to improve the condition of the public infrastructure in support of other community development activities taking place in the area.
OBJECTIVE:
Address any adverse or inadequate conditions of the public infrastructure,
in conjunction with other neighborhood revitalization efforts, to improve safety
and the neighborhood environment.
The City acknowledges that the recent economic climate has rendered this category a high priority. Support of economic development activities can take many forms, including inducements to business expansion through improvements to the public infrastructure, or public service job training/job matching activities. In the past, subrecipients have encountered difficulties in meeting CDBG job creation requirements when assisting for-profit businesses. Understandably, no agency wants to turn away business development because of certain funding conditions.
Within the city, either through municipal resources or through non-profit providers, business loans, loan guarantees, technical assistance and/or access to the federal Small Business Administration are currently available. The amount of non-housing CDBG available for other community development activities, including economic development, renders the funding of duplicate services an unwise investment of limited resources. The challenge to the City is to coordinate the economic development assistance currently available, induce more private participation, especially through area financial institutions, support education and training activities and support public domain initiatives to increase business activity.
The City of Holyoke, through the Holyoke Economic Development and Industrial Corporation administers a number of financing programs designed to assist manufacturers in relocation, development and expansion. Riverside Development Corp. administers a Small Loan Guarantee Program for small businesses. In addition, access to Micro-business Development loan funds are available through Greater Holyoke, Inc. or Nueva Esperanza, Inc. The City has also designated an Economic Opportunity Area and an Economic Target Area which may provide special municipal incentives for businesses.
Holyoke also provides economic development support through CDBG funding of commercial facade improvement, programs for technical assistance to new businesses and through public service job training/job matching activities.
GOALS:
OBJECTIVES:
GOAL:
To continue to support those services for which the greatest need exists and which relate most closely to other activities affecting neighborhood revitalization and quality of life.
OBJECTIVE:
Continue to expend up to 15 percent of the City's yearly CDBG allocation in
support of services that meet the overall goal and CDBG eligibility/benefit
requirements. These may include: youth services, senior services, recreational
services, employment training, child care, homeless services, education, crime
prevention, tenant/landlord counselling, fair housing, substance abuse
prevention, health services and handicapped services. The relative priority of
services within this category will vary.
GOAL:
To undertake select activities to preserve the cultural identity and physical history of the area.
OBJECTIVE:
Preservation of historic, non-general government public properties listed,
or eligible to be listed, on the National Register of Historic Places.
GOAL:
To undertake such activities which are necessary to eliminate slums, prevent blight or address health, safety or environmental conditions in otherwise stable neighborhoods or in areas undergoing revitalization.
OBJECTIVES:
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
The City of Holyoke will continue to use a portion of its Community Development Block Grant allocation to address non-housing community development priorities. The City will also seek to complement these resources with other funding sources in order to maximize the resulting benefits and accomplishments. In particular, the City will seek out state or other federal funding to coordinate these activities, including, but not limited to, Massachusetts Community Development Action Grants, Urban Self-Help Grants, Public Works Economic Development Grants, and Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery Grants (if restored by Congress).
The City of Holyoke will continue its effort to realize these non-housing objectives. Through its proposal processes for allocating it CDBG, the City will balance requests with objectives, available funding and the extent to which objectives are or may be met through other resources, as well as how the proposed project coordinates with other housing and community development activities.
The City also recognizes that it faces many challenges in its efforts to
reduce the number of families in poverty and strengthen the fabric of its urban
neighborhoods. The fulfillment of this plan relies upon the cooperation and
communication among government officials, neighborhood groups, residents,
implementing agencies and funding agencies. By encouraging teamwork and
interaction, the City seeks to bring together a unified commitment to the
future.
The non-housing community development projects to be undertaken include improvements to neighborhood recreational facilities, improvements to neighborhood public facilities, infrastructure improvements in lower income residential areas, assistance to microenterprise businesses and public services. Key project types include:
All of the non-housing physical improvement activities will take place in lower income neighborhoods. Sidewalk improvements will take place at various locations throughout Census Tracts 8114-8118. Microenterprise business assistance and all public services are available to income-eligible persons and households city-wide. Certain services taken place at specific locations while other services come to the participant. Services with specific locations as well as the sites of physical improvements are shown on the accompanying maps.
The Office for Community Development will act as the lead agency in administering these non-housing community development activities. It is the City's intent to contract with a variety of providers, including certain City departments, in order to carry out these activities.
See Executive Summary for the Holyoke-Chicopee Consortium.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.
MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects; in addition, a table depicts information about the project(s).
MAP 6 depicts Neighborhood Segments and proposed HUD funded projects, as described in the table under MAP 5.
