Rocky Mount (pop. 52,237) has made a noticeable shift to manufacturing within the last 25 years. Once a predominately agricultural economy, the city now serves as a market and shipping point for products raised and manufactured in neighboring Nash and Edgecombe Counties. Manufacturing is the largest employer, followed by retail and wholesale trade, services, and government.
Rocky Mount sponsored four public hearings at which city staff explained the Consolidated Plan process and how funding could be allocated for each activity during the upcoming program year. The city asked the public to make recommendations for possible activities.
Rocky Mount is, in many respects, a divided city. Its residents are equally divided between Anglo whites and African Americans, each of whom comprise more than 49 percent of the population. The city is also physically and socially divided by a railroad line running through the center of the downtown business district. The majority of whites live on the Nash County side in new suburbs with strong commercial development and services. Most of the African-American population lives on the Edgecombe County side of the tracks in older housing with lower service levels.
Nearly 5,000 Rocky Mount households earn less than 50 percent of the median family income (MFI) of $24,055. The 3,063 households in the low-income category earn between 51 and 80 percent of the MFI. The 1,561 moderate-income households earn between 81 and 95 percent of the MFI.
There are approximately 20,100 housing units in Rocky Mount. About 56 percent of Rocky Mount's housing is owner-occupied -- this share is significantly lower than the 66-percent homeownership rate in the surrounding two-county area and the 72-percent rate for the State of North Carolina. The city estimates that the existing housing stock of both single-family housing (13,883 units, or two-thirds of the total stock) and multifamily housing (6,290 units) exceeds that necessary to maintain a healthy market vacancy rate.
However, 16 percent of the city's housing stock is substandard, and approximately one-quarter of these units are thought to be dilapidated and thus unsuitable for future rehabilitation. Overcrowding is a problem for 4 percent of extremely low-income and 9 percent of very low-income renters. Less than 2 percent of homeowners experience overcrowding.
Forty percent of renters in the city of Rocky Mount have incomes below half of the area median. Among these 3,526 very low-income renter households, three out of every five are rent burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income for rent. Three out of every four homeowners in the very low-income category pay more than 30 percent for housing. Nearly half of elderly households have a housing problem, as well as 62 percent of large renter households. African-American households are also disproportionately represented among households with rent burdens and other housing problems.
Affordability for first-time homebuyers is a major issue. The average cost of a singe-family home in Rocky Mount is $89,904. Between 22 and 33 percent of Rocky Mount families cannot afford such a home. Low- and moderate-income households in particular are often priced out of the market. Other problems facing low- to moderate-income people include the following:
The 1990 census reported that approximately 349 homeless people reside in Rocky Mount. Local service providers and nonprofit organizations that serve the homeless say there were many more homeless who were not counted and estimate that they may see only half of the true homeless population.
Many farms in the Rocky Mount region employ and house workers during the summer months. When the homeless are seasonally employed and housed, the numbers requiring assistance at the two homeless shelters drop considerably from the winter months.
Rocky Mount has two shelters. One is a shelter for battered women and their children called My Sister's House, organized by the Christ Episcopal Church. In 1994 My Sister's House provided temporary shelter to 413 women and children. The average occupant stayed at the shelter for a month.
United Community Ministries operates a 24-hour shelter that provides meals, minimal services, and a rehabilitation program. The shelter has room for 30 men and 15 women. Last year it provided services to 8,300 people, including meals, overnight stay, and financial assistance to families. It has no facilities for children.
The Rocky Mount Housing Authority operates 768 units of public housing and project-based assisted housing. Although this housing is generally in good condition, projects containing slightly more than half of the city's public housing stock are in need of rehabilitation. Demand for public housing is high, with 410 families on the Housing Authority's waiting list.
While Edgecombe-Nash County Mental Health Services provides services to individuals with mental illnesses and substance abuse problems, there are no local programs to house such populations. Rocky Mount has no current statistics on HIV/AIDS patients and no programs to meet the housing needs of this population.
An after-care program is available at the Nash-Edgecombe Mental Health Center for people released from the Cherry Mental Hospital and the area prison facilities. The program helps these people make the transition back into the community.
The lack of affordable housing is one of the most serious issues facing Rocky Mount. The city's ability to provide affordable housing to low- and moderate-income families will largely depend on its effectiveness in encouraging the private sector to build an adequate supply of housing for people of all incomes. Local developers are concerned about the review process, which now includes zoning, subdivision review, wetlands protection, floodplain control, historic preservation, and other regulations that tend to raise the cost of housing.
About half of Rocky Mount's homes were built before 1970, when the use of lead-based paint was common. It is estimated that 85 percent of pre-1950 units, 75 percent of units built between 1950 and 1960, and 65 percent of units built between 1960 and 1970 contain lead-based paint. Based on these estimates, approximately 41 percent of all dwellings (or 8,345 units) in the city contain lead-based paint.
Six neighborhoods that are primarily proposed as target areas for Federal assistance are high-risk areas for lead-based paint. These communities largely consist of minority families who have low- or very low-incomes and reside in substandard rental units.
Rocky Mount will continue its "Living With Lead" educational campaign aimed at preventing lead poisoning of area children. The city will offer lead screening to the estimated 1,300 children under 6 in target areas. Parents of children with elevated blood-lead levels will be offered counseling regarding the dangers of lead hazards and instruction on how to identify lead hazards. They will also be shown methods of preventing or reducing these hazards. Rocky Mount has applied for a $1 million Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lead-based paint grant to help fund lead-based paint abatement activities.
Rocky Mount has identified the following six goals for improving the community:
During the next 5 years, Rocky Mount will continue its housing programs which are designed to preserve the supply of existing housing, add affordable housing units for low- and moderate-income citizens, promote economic development activities, provide for needed facilities, and make improvements to public infrastructures in targeted areas.
Priority: Expand homeownership opportunities for low- to moderate-income homebuyers.
Strategies include:
Priority: Preserve the existing housing supply and improve neighborhood conditions.
Strategies include:
Priority: Evaluate the need for additional special needs housing.
Strategies include:
Priority: Increase the supply of affordable housing for low- to moderate-income homeowners and renters.
Strategies include:
Priority: Provide assistance for improving facilities or constructing public facilities.
Strategies include:
Priority: Promote economic and small business development activities.
Strategies include:
In an attempt to decrease the number of families living below the poverty level, the city will implement the following programs and activities:
Rocky Mount depends greatly on Federal dollars to support its housing and community development projects. In 1994 the city was recognized by HUD as a Community Development Block Grant Entitlement City. In the first year of funding, it received $877,000, of which the city used 53 percent to fund housing rehabilitation.
Rocky Mount has the following available resources:
The city of Rocky Mount is the designated lead agency responsible for developing and implementing the Consolidated Plan; but the city will share information among local governments, nonprofit organizations, and the public.
Rocky Mount will use CDBG and HOME funds to continue the housing rehabilitation activities in the Holly Street community as outlined in the Holly Street Revitalization Project. Holly Street is located on the Edgecombe County side of the city.
Otherwise, to achieve the greatest impact on low- to moderate-income families, housing rehabilitation activities will take place in various areas throughout the community.
The Community Development Division of the Planning Department will administer much of the 1-year action plan. Housing issues that relate to housing code enforcement are handled by the Inspections Division. The Rocky Mount/Edgecombe Community Development Corporation will administer other activities as they are identified.
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.
MAP 6 is a map, sectioned by neighborhood, which depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 7 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects within one of the four neighborhoods indicated in MAP 6.
MAP 8 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded project(s) from a street level vantage point; in addition, a table provides information about the project(s).
