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City surveys target neighborhood needs By Jessica Smith City leaders want residents in three Medford neighborhoods to help develop "to do" lists targeting unmet needs in each community. Beginning in September, the city will survey residents door-to-door near McLoughlin Middle School and Washington and Roosevelt elementary schools, asking residents to identify their neighborhood assets. Glenda Owens, deputy city recorder, said the idea is to get people to recognize the positive influences in their community rather than picking apart the problems in their neighborhoods. "So we start to focus on the glass being half-full," she said. The surveys are a pilot program sponsored by the Medford City Council, which wants to encourage neighborhood "revitalization" projects that provide affordable housing, improve sidewalks and streets and create stronger ties in the community, among other things. Since 1995, the city has spent $4.1 million on such programs. City leaders say, however, that they want to improve community participation and empower residents to determine for themselves what programs and projects are needed where they live. The first step is a community assets survey, said Owens, who has been working on the project since January. Although the surveys will originally be confined to the three pilot projects, Owens said the program could grow to include all Medford�s neighborhoods. Owens said she�d like to enlist volunteers from each neighborhood to help with the surveys. Finding established leaders will be important, she said, but the city also must seek out informal leaders. "Maybe it�s the lady on the corner who everyone goes to when they have a problem. She knows all about the neighborhood," Owens said. "Those are the kinds of people we need to draw into this." The questionnaires seek information on the kinds of skills possessed by residents � can they clean clogged drains? mow lawns? cook and sew? � and whether those skills can be shared with others in the neighborhood. Surveyors also will attempt to determine whether residents are interested in neighborhood activities, such as bingo gatherings, rummage sales, community gardens. Residents also will be asked whether they would consider running a business on their block. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA