The East End Small Area Plan will afford LFUCG and the Division of Planning the opportunity to combine traditional elements of neighborhood planning with new techniques of organizing the social, physical and economic environment of the neighborhood. A variety of planning tools will be evaluated by the project team to ensure that the East End Small Area Plan reflects the values of the neighborhood residents and the planning principles and policies of the newly adopted LFUCG Comprehensive Plan. Planning techniques that the project team will consider in the development of the plan – Phase I and Phase II include:

Neighborhood Residents and Stakeholder Involvement
Engage residents, neighbors, civic leaders, and other neighborhood stakeholders throughout the process of designing change and improvements for their neighborhood, this will be accomplished through a series of neighborhood meetings, workshops, and or charettes, involving groups such as the neighborhood associations, Lyric Theatre Committee, churches-i.e. Shiloh Baptist, Liberty Baptist and others.

This level of involvement will consist of workshops designed to gain neighborhood information, insight and neighborhood assessment surveys, designed to gain longstanding problems of the neighborhood, and other workshops that will test alternative design concepts. The number of meetings will be determined at the final scope of work development. At a minimum 4-6 neighborhood/ workshop meetings would be anticipated.

Economic Opportunity
The design of the East End Small Area Plan should accommodate management techniques and scales of economic opportunities.

Public and private dollars should be used as an economic development tool to encourage economic growth and investment into the neighborhoods housing, retail and manufacturing/light industrial economic opportunities, along the East Third Street Corridor, Winchester Road, Zesta Place and other areas.

Diversity
The plan should address the need for the provision of a broad range of housing types and price levels to bring people of diverse ages, races, and incomes into daily interaction – strengthening the personal and civic bonds that are essential to neighborhood sustainability. Examples of housing diversity would be Elm Tree Lane, Hope VI Bluegrass Aspendale, etc.

Infill Development
An assessment of available neighborhood infill properties that can be utilized and reclaimed to repair blighted and abandoned areas within the East End Neighborhood, by using infill development strategically will conserve economic investment and social fabric.

Infill development in concert with the neighborhoods Hope VI Project (Bluegrass Aspendale) will create a sustainable neighborhood. The boundary between the “project” and the neighborhood will be eliminated and incorporated into the neighborhood design and social fabric. New construction and current renovations of existing units will work hand in hand in development of the small area plan.

Mixed Use
The plan should be designed to reflect the creation of mixed uses that support the functions of daily life: employment, recreation, retail, and civic and educational institutions. Examples include East Third Corridor, Community Ventures, and Lyric Theatre.

The provision of mixed uses through a variety of planning and zoning techniques in the neighborhood combine complimentary uses to bring everyday tasks and needs closer together. Coordinated mixed uses integrated into the plan will make it possible for the neighborhood residents to walk for errands such as, church, recreation, employment, and can be supportive of transit and bicycling as effective transportation options.

The impact of such uses through redevelopment efforts will connect isolated single use buildings into vibrant communities. Schools and day care are located closer to homes, workplaces and retail. Redevelopment of the East End will enable residents the opportunity to know and interact with their neighbors.

Public Open Space
A value assessment of public open space with an interconnected network of streets should provide opportunities for recreation and appropriate settings for civic buildings such as the Charles Young Center, the Isaac Murphy Park, the Lyric Theatre and new Community School.

East End plan policies and strategies that encourage affordable housing combined with income housing designed around the activities of the Hope VI housing and its new network of interconnected streets and public space creates an environment where the residents can feel secure and will put more “eye’s on the street” where they can feel secure walking through the neighborhood. Public open spaces with good defensible space characteristics contribute to the overall improvement in living conditions.

Social Capital
The project team will develop a strategy to measure Social Capital within the East End Neighborhood, which is emerging as a critical tool in effective community planning and development and can be a useful indicator in determining the assets and values within the neighborhood. In its most practical application, social capital is the impact of neighborhood networks, mutual and institutional trust, and shared behavioral norms upon the realization of sustainable neighborhood development. Social capital is quantifiable and is a necessary resource to effective planning and engineering design. Institutional examples would be the neighborhood churches, social service providers – Catholic Action Center, Community Action Council, Chestnut Street YWCA, etc.

Social capital is assessed by the application of a three pronged analytical framework. The three elements are: (1) Scope (2) Form (3) Impact

(1) The scope of the social capital assessment and survey will be at the community and household level.

(2) The form (i.e., how this social capital is manifested) will be correlated to the following indicators:
    a. neighborhood cohesion v neighborhood disunity
    b. social control v social disorder
    c. collective efficacy v impotence
    d. facility uses v facility disuses
    e. neighborhood satisfaction v neighborhood dissatisfaction
    f. reciprocal exchange v community disharmony
    g. participation v isolation

(3) The impact is an accounting of benefits which positively affect sustainable development which will include:
    a. reduction of dysfunctional and disruptive public behavior
    b. stable commercial and retail centers
    c. increased community participation and involvement
    d. appropriate and effective use of public space
    e. neighborhood support and maintenance of development

Neighborhood Character and Design Codes
The economic health and harmonious evolution of the East End Neighborhood can be improved through neighborhood sensitive/cultural design codes that serve as predictable guidelines for change. The imaged and character of the neighborhood should respond to the best traditions of residential mixed use and density within the neighborhood.

The cultural and historical character of the neighborhood will be investigated to understand the origins of the housing styles with such design features as porches, which represents the fusion of European and African architectural expression as is seen in some of the housing types along Race, Ohio and Chestnut Streets. The porch serves a dual purpose: the vestibule to the residents’ private living quarters, and the occupant’s vestibule to the streets. It will be the intent of this plan to capture the essence of the character of the neighborhood through design elements and codes. Codes such as Form – based codes that work on the basic principle that design is more important than use; will be investigated for its applicability. Form –based codes basic rules specify a range of acceptable building types and welcome mixed-use development. Form-based codes highlight a range of heights, sitings, elements, and uses for the diverse needs of different types of housing and shop fronts.