Document text
Neighborhoods tackle local problems together Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Eleven-year-old Sarah Wilson plays ball with brothers and friends in a parking lot next to Consolidated Freightways on Central Avenue in Medford. A new neighborhood group has formed to address a lack of parks where children can play as well as other problems in the area west of downtown Medford. New group forms to deal with growth in community By Jessica Smith When there aren�t any parks around, kids will play anywhere. In one Medford neighborhood west of downtown, youngsters make do with sidewalks, parking lots and street corners. "It�s kind of a forgotten area," said Mike Miles, who manages commercial property in the neighborhood. "There�s no parks in the area and there�s about 225 kids living there. It�s tough." New neighborhood group will meet What: A meeting of residents who live in the area framed by Interstate 5, West Jackson Street, the railroad tracks and West McAndrews Road. When: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14. A pizza feed precedes the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Where: Salvation Army, 304 Beatty St. Why: Neighbors will gather to talk about problems � from the lack of suitable play areas and programs for children to crime and traffic � and find solutions. Medford police and representatives from the YMCA and Southern Oregon University�s youth programs will also be on hand. Task-force groups will be formed to work on separate issues. Miles says he�s sure residents can make changes in the neighborhood if they work together. He�s planned a meeting with residents to talk about parks and problems plaguing their neighborhood. In doing so, Miles is taking his cue from other grass-roots groups in Medford that have formed to deal with the side effects of a growing, changing community. The neighborhood Miles is targeting � outlined by Riverside Avenue, West Jackson Street, the railroad tracks and West McAndrews Road � is made up mostly of low-income families who feel separated from the rest of the city, said Miles and Salvation Army Corps commander Lt. John Van Cleef. "Riverside, Court and Center streets surround us, so the outside layer is businesses. The inside layer is mostly low-income residents," said Van Cleef, who runs the Salvation Army�s Jackson County operations from the Beatty Street site. "In a sense, it almost seems like a lost part of Medford." There�s no place for kids to go, say Van Cleef and Miles. Parents don�t want to send their kids to play at Hawthorne Park or the grounds at Jackson Elementary School, because youngsters have to cross busy streets. "There are no parks in the neighborhood, there�s no school in the neighborhood and there are no supervised programs for kids in the neighborhood," Van Cleef said. "So what do you get when you have unsupervised kids just hanging out in a neighborhood? Trouble." Car break-ins and vandalism have become common over the years, Miles said. At a meeting about two weeks from now, Miles said he�ll try to organize residents to identify opportunities to increase park lands and youth activities and reduce crime and traffic, two other major concerns. Anyone can start a neighborhood group Gigi Michaels, executive director of the West Medford Community Coalition, says residents who want to form their own group should start by identifying boundaries. "You need to think about who to include, where to stop the outreach," Michaels said. School districts and Census blocks are a good place to start. Then get out and talk to your neighbors. Tell them about your concerns and learn about theirs. Find out whether neighbors would attend a neighborhood meeting, then plan one. "Talk about solutions (to the neighborhood�s concerns), then start looking at other things that need to be done and build on that," Michaels said. Residents citywide also are invited to attend the west Medford coalition�s "Community Connection" meetings, held every other month. The next one is at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at Oak Grove School. "We�re trying to empower these people to take action," Miles said. It�s these types of meetings that are producing results elsewhere in Medford, according to Gigi Michaels, executive director of the West Medford Community Coalition. Recently, residents in the Union Park area concerned about blight in their west Medford neighborhood took their case to the Medford City Council. A day later, police concentrated their efforts on abandoned vehicles and other code violations in the neighborhood. About a year ago, residents on Groveland Avenue banded together to persuade the state transportation department to discard a proposed fix to the south Medford Interstate 5 interchange that would have brought too much traffic through their neighborhood. Neighbors in north Medford, near Table Rock Road, also are beginning to form a group to address crime, blight, traffic and other issues. "Usually it takes an issue to bring people together," Michaels said. "Sometimes neighborhood groups are temporary. They get together to work on an issue and when the work is over, the group disbands." But Michaels said her organization encourages neighborhood groups to remain active. Neighborhood groups are one of the most effective ways of reaching city leaders, she said. "The benefit of forming a neighborhood group is that it can be easier to be heard. You can tell the council what areas need money and what areas need attention," Michaels said. "It�s the idea of having more eyes and ears and hands" working on problems. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.