BACK 2 DA BASICS

What's up world!!! This is Shay logging in for the last time at the work house. I am originally from South Memphis, Tennessee. I now live in the East Memphis area, but this summer I worked in a neighborhood that I was unfamiliar with. Majority of my fellow employees were from the Messick-Buntyn neighborhood which made me feel uncomfortable because I had no prior knowledge of this community that I was placed to work in. However, I am happy to say that this experience has changed my perspective of how I interpret what others say because this summer I have learned more about a neighborhood that those around me target as problematic.

Will I use the skills that I have learned later in life? Of course. I mean I enjoyed the cool technology that we used throughout the summer, and when I attend college if I need to incorporate some of the skills that I learned this summer then I will. Also, I received insight on power points which I enjoy doing, and I am aware that my senior year will be filled with power points (thanks Mr. Andrew, Patience, and Mr. Charlie for the tips). Mapping just might be in my future.

PLANNING for the future...

This summer has been a big one. One for learning new things. One for making a difference. One for change. I've enjoyed my summer work with this program and I will be taking back so many of the skills I've gained and improved. I came into this program not knowing for sure whether or not I'd enjoy city planning, and I now see the changes in myself and in my opinion towards communities.
I've always known about deadlines and waking up on time, but this job forced me to do it. If I said I was going to type something I had to, and I had to make sure it was of good quality because this was important. I've learned to be dependable and to be responsible for my actions and my assignments. I'll always remember the people i worked with and that it only takes a few people to make a difference. I can't wait to begin this school year with a new outlook on my community, this city, and my life. I feel so blessed to have had this experience.

-Skyler

In Retrospect......

This summer was like something I've never experienced before. I learned so much in so little times. Not to mention, the great team I worked with. My favorite person out of the whole group would have to be Skyler. She was such a unpredictable person. She was very cool to work with, and she has such a beautiful voice and she always so joyous and such a spirit lifter. I'm not going to say my least favorite person because that would be kind of mean. LOL! And our supervisors Mr. Andrew Trippel, Mr. Charlie Santo, and Mrs. Patience Jarrett-Beck were MARVELOUS! They were so fun to be with everyday!! They taught us so much. The information I've learned this summer is something that I will value and cherish forever. But ovreall this summer has been great.We used the ArcPad software with the GPS hand held. ArcPad is software for mobile GIS and field mapping applications using handheld and mobile devices.These things were the size of a calculator!! We learned things in a week that some college students don’t learn in a 3-6 months. It was such a learning experience to work in this field this summer. We learned some new terminology that city planners use on a daily basis. I think I speak on behalf of all my co-workers when I say that this was a learning and fun-filled summer.

Will i use the skills that i learned in the future.

Will I use the skills that I learned in the future, yes I think I will. I didn't know that what we were doing took college students a semester to learn and we learned it in a few weeks. I might even want to go to college and pursue a degree in city planning. This was a fun experience, it had its boring times but overall it was fun (especially when I got paid). I hope every one else feels like this about the conclusion of the Y.N.M.I program.

I learned about different agencies and groups. One particular group that I thought was really good was P.A.C.A (police and citizens alliance), they were basically retired men who painted over graffiti where ever they seen it. I also didn't know that code enforcement had that much authority. I found out that it is illegal to evict people and put their furniture outside. Well this was my last blog goodbye.

What We Did This Week?

Monday- We put all the problem properties, that we surveyed Friday, on ArcMap.

Tuesday- We interviewed people at Davis Community Center to see what they think about Davis Park and their neighborhood.

Wednesday- We got together and put our presentation together for our Neighborhood Meeting on July 31st.

Thursday- We had to be at the Blue Crush weekly meeting at 9:00 at Airways Substation and we learned about all the targeted crimes that are going on the city of Memphis. The t.v. and movies doesn't lie about police loving donuts and coffee. Then, we split up into two groups, one group went to Brentwood Park and the other group went to Peabody Park to take park surveys. Then we had a presentation for the Humes' Students and Memphis Heritage came gave a presentation.

Friday- Today we going to take surveys of Marquette Park and Aurbon Park and we going to create maps of Brentwood Park, Marquette Park, and Aurbon Park.

This week I learned not to judge a community by what the televisions say because what they say about Orange Mound isn't true and when we surveyed the people in the community they are saying they don't see as many problems in their community as what I thought there would be. There isn't that much in the community going by what all the neighbors in the neighborhood saying. So, stopping judging different communities by what you heard and judge by what you know about the communities. By gathering data, we learned to know the community more and learned not to judge the community.

Tiresome Thursday!!

WOW!! Was Thursday a day or what???!! Now, normally we go in for work at 11 am. HOWEVER, on Thursday we got went in at 8:00!! We had such a BUSY day!! Our first visit was to the Blue C.R.U.S.H. weekly meeting. There we learned about the latest crimes in our area. They biggest thing was the copper thefts. It is AMAZING how expensive it is to repair damages when idiots steal copper. It was stunning to hear of how many teenagers that are committing crimes. Can you believe that teenagers outnumbered adults? OMG!! And I REFUSE to not inform you of the food they had at the meeting. MAN!! I LOVE food!! They had all kinds of donuts, salads, chicken bites,orange juice, grape juice, water, and coffee. That wasn't the best part of the day though. When we left there, we went to the University of Memphis for a meeting with Memphis Heritage's June West. She was very enthused about telling us about the history of Memphis. She showed us a lot of historic buildings that were torn down and rebuilt, some that were flat out demolished, and some that are yet and still standing. Now that I know how some buildings downtown used to look, I'll look at them differently. It seems like the traditional buildings looked better that the more modern architecture. It doesn't seem like a lot, but BOY was it a tiring DAY!!!

WHEN DID THEY STOP CARING!!!!!!

Let's do a quick review. On Friday 13, 2007 the Youth Neighborhood Mapping Initiative team went out on a scavenger hunt for problem properties in the Messick-Buntyn community. In my last blog, I mentioned how we used the GPS handheld to distribute Arc Map for the purpose of gathering data on these problem properties. Also, I stated how there weren't as many problem properties as I thought there would be, but to my surprise that was untrue. I could only speak for the area that I scouted, but when we all brought our information together I was disappointed.

So I propose the question, "when did they stop caring?" The "they" that I am referring to in the previous sentence are the residents of the Messick-Buntyn area. 79 out of the 907 properties of the Messick-Buntyn area were problem properties in our perspective. With that 79 out of 907, that means that .08% of the area is a liability to the enhancement of the community. A liability is nothing more than a hindrance to a healthy, livable community, yet with the looks of these numbers a healthy, livable community isn't a necessity anymore to the residents.

Let me tell you all something. When you want something done you have to do it yourself. You can't depend on this person, that person, this group of people, or that group of people. Look where it has gotten you "nowhere". All you need is a plan to turn a liability into an asset, and that isn't hard. Clean up day here and clean up day there, that is a start. We as youth can't tackle this problem alone. We can only bring to the light what you all are blinded by. So, if you want to live in an area of liabilities then you aren't the community I thought you were. You must come together to uplift your community because if you don't I pose another question, "WHO WILL?!"

WHEN DID THEY STOP CARING IS THE PROBLEM!
WHEN WILL THEY START CARING IS THE ANSWER!!!!

THE NEW PERSPECTIVE

This week we went out into the community and surveyed people on what they thought about our neighborhood park, Davis Park. A lot of the interviews resulted in the same answer and concerns. Three out of the four people we surveyed believed that the park needed better equipment, someone to clean up the litter, and someone to cut the grass and maintain the park in general. When it came to the neighborhood, again three out of the four thought that the neighborhood was at its worst now because of younger people moving into the neighborhood and becoming bad influences. One person thought that the neighborhood was at its Best now and that the park was perfect besides the grass needing to be cut.

Another thing that we did this week was go to a BLUE C.R.U.S.H meeting. The Blue Crush (Criminal Reduction Utilizing Statistical History) is a Memphis Police Department driven initiative which utilizes new technology to create multi-layer, interactive maps of crime hot-spots based on data from the previous week's arrests and incidents. The meeting showed us the main things that these certain police officers were tackling, ranging from copper thefts to burglaries of stores and houses. It personally amazed me that copper thefts alone have the city of Memphis in a 1,000,000 dollar debt. We left that meeting with a new perspective on our neighborhood.

Later on in the day we went to Peabody Park surveyed how beautiful it was how much it offered and maybe what could be added, but it passed with flying colors. The other park we surveyed for the day was Brentwood we believed that it offered a lot but could put in more like a shelter of some kind. Sadly this park still looked better than Davis Park and the Peabody park beat Davis a 100%. Today (Friday) we will continue to visit different parks and survey them on what they need and what potential they already have.

This week i have learned that our neighborhood has so much to offer but we don't take advantage of the opportunities to make it better. Many people look at the neighborhood by the obvious crimes that are happening when i see now that it is the smaller crimes that are also taking over the community but we pay these issues no mind. We can't expect for the city to give us better when we don't deserve it. When we show the city that we appreciate what is given to us instead of destroying it then we will receive more.

WE CAN'T WAIT FOR THE FIRST STEP TO BE TAKEN. WE HAVE TO
BECOME LEADERS AND TAKE IT OURSELVES

What we did this week.

This week we did a lot, I actually think that we should get payed more for what we did. Monday we entered all of the data from the GPS device on to Arcmap. That was very interesting if you ask me. Tuesday we walked up to Davis community center and interviewed nine people. The whole experience changed my perspective on what I thought about Davis park. Even though I thought Davis park looked like crap,the people we interviewed thought nothing was wrong with it.The people were very helpful and cooperative except for a few. Also Skyler and I went and interviewed her mom she was the most funniest experience.

Wednesday we sat around the table in the planning room and discussed what our final project was gone to be. Thursday we had to be at work at 9:00 because we attended a Blue Crush meeting at the Airways Precinct. While I was there I realized that the television doesn't lie, the cops had coffee and doughnuts there. But the whole Blue Crush meeting experience was great I enjoyed it. Friday here I am blogging to you about what we did for the week, and we are going to Marquette park.

Interviews with the people in the hood...

Tuesday we went to Davis Park to interview people that live and/or work around the Messick-Buntyn Neighborhood. We even interviewed someone from Nashville and he gave us information from what he saw. We broke in teams of two and we went from the park to the inside of the community center. When we got in the community center there was a volleyball game going on. We interviewed a total of nine people. We had some people that was really interested in change in the community, while some people didn't even want to hear what we had to say...Bless them. Anyways, we had a lot of fun and we got a little lesson on how to interview people.

I Hope I Don't See a Dog

ArcPad can be used to capture, analyze, and display geographic information. It is a software for mobile GIS and field mapping applications using handheld and mobile devices. The mobile device that we used to distribute ArcPad on Friday 13, 2007 was a Global Positioning System(GPS). The GPS enabled me to keep track of my direction and location. Although it is supposed to be sufficient, if you stood still in one place it would power off causing the track log to dis assemble. When I realized that the GPS wasn't keeping track of my every step I began to get worried. However, it assured me that it was still aware of my every location .

As I began on my journey to discover the problem properties in the Messick Buntyn area, I realized that there were less than I expected. The neighborhood acquired a lot of problem properties, but with all that I had heard about the Messick Buntyn area I thought it would be more than I saw. In my opinion, every time I turned a corner I was prepared for an abandoned house here, there, and everywhere, but to my surprise they weren't cluttered like that. So, journeying through the Messick Buntyn community did not change my views on problem properties, but it did help me to realize that you can't believe everything you hear.

By the way, the reason I titled my blog "I Hope I Don't See a Dog" is because during the time of the hunt for problems properties that is the only thing I could think about!!!!!!!!!!!

GPS

Friday we walked the Messick-Buntyn neighborhood using the GPS handheld devices. GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a very precise orbit and transmit signal information to earth. GPS receivers take this information and use triangulation to calculate the user's exact location. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares the time a signal was transmitted by a satellite with the time it was received. The time difference tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is. Now, with distance measurements from a few more satellites, the receiver can determine the user's position and display it on the unit's electronic map.

However the GPS had certain malfunctions with its tracking system. Like when under a tree the GPS signal would fade away or have an error. There were probably eight problem properties that we mapped out during our whole experience with the Arcpad handheld. Initially I thought there were many more problem properties and it was nice to see how few there were on a map. Overall the Arcpad GPS was a very nice experience and I look forward to using it again.

ArcPad

On Friday, we worked with ArcPad GPS hand-held when we walked around the neighborhood to find all the problem-properties. ArcPad is the smaller version of ArcGIS because, with ArcGIS we had to type the data to add to a map and on ArcPad we just had to touch the screen to add the data, because on the ArcPad the GPS Tracker already had the data loaded up on the screen. When we pinpoint a problem property on the map, it gave us a survey to see what was wrong with the property such as if the grass was maintained, was it anything wrong with the house, and if there was graffiti, loitering, littering, and drug dealing around the property.

The GPS also had a tracker on it that let us know where we have been and where we were. Sometimes the signal on the GPS would get lost. When we were walking around there wasn't that many problem properties in the neighborhood that we thought it would be. My ideas of the neighborhood change because at first I thought there was a lot of problem properties, but now I see that there are fewer problem properties. Overall the project was fun and interesting to me.

Let's Do It Again....

Wow! Friday was a DAY! Everyone selected a partner and each duo was assigned certain streets. My partner was Selena, and we were assigned Spottswood, Douglass, Semmes & Chisca. I thought it would be super boring but it wasn't. We were given a handheld computer so that we could use ARCPad (a version of ARCGis designed for handheld computers) and plug in information about problem properties.
The information we plugged in was separated into categories based on the structure, trash accumulation, and the presence or absence of illegal activity. We saw SOOOOOOOOOO many problem properties! We saw everything from overgrown grass to trash to abandoned houses. It was RIDICULOUS! I saw houses & streets I'd never even noticed before. It was a fun day and I actually had fun. I learned a lot about the neighborhoods and the properties. I loved the handhelds and I wish we had of been assigned more streets. I can't WAIT to put the information into the computer and then discuss!

Fabulous Friday!!!!

Friday was a remarkable day!! We had to go out into the neighborhood and plug in problem properties. It was so interesting. We actually got to plug in data with the hand-held GPS devices. I felt so important holding such expensive equipment!! LOL!! Skyler and I traveled up and down Spottswood, Douglass, Semmes, and Chisca. It was such a shocking experience!! We went through a process of plugging in properties that had bad structure, overgrown grass, litter etc.



Seeing the neighborhood from a different level really interested me. I actually noticed homes and properties that I never noticed before. There are so many problem properties in my neighborhood. I mean from, abandoned houses to too tall grass, to NO grass AT ALL. We have it all. By us actually walking in the neighborhood we were able to observe alot of eyecatching things. Friday was a FABULOUS day!!!

Catching You Up...

Well this week has been a busy week. In fact, so busy that we haven't had much time to post daily blogs. SO I'm going to catch you up on what's been going on:

Monday

• We tested our skills and our knowledge of the ARCGIS mapping program.
• We selected EVERY house in the university district and assigned it to a neighborhood.
• We worked together to group all of the parcels (houses, buildings, land-uses) by the year they were built.

This was a very productive day, and we realized that we know more about ARCGIS than we thought we knew.

Tuesday

• At the beginning of the day we worked with Mr. Santo on planning our project and our community meeting. We each had an individual assignment. We researched the history, made up a park survey to help us with the comparison C.W. Davis Park & other parks around the city, and called Davis Community Center to set a date and time for the meeting.
  
• After lunch, we worked with Mr. Andrew on planning the community meeting, a few of us created flyers and we discussed ways to get the community excited about it.
  

Wednesday

• We started off the day planning the meeting, and tweaking our park survey.
• After that, we walked down to Davis Park and we graded it using the survey. The park could acquire points for having working fountains, mowed grass, trash cans, etc. It could lose points for the lack of those and other things as well.
  
• After lunch, we discussed what we found to be (or not to be) in Davis Park. We also thought of more things to add or specify in the survey.

GIS Mapping

GIS is a wonderful way to become aware of how to create and learn more about maps. It gives you a lot of information about your surroundings in your neigborhood. It also gives you all types of statistics. Not only can you research your neigborhood, you can also research the whole world. IT tells you where you can find volcanoes and where earthquake would most likely happen. It give a whole lot of info and its everything a map should be. Check it out.

An Essential Discovery

The Geographic Information System can be used as a betterment to a community if placed in the right hands. It makes it easier for someone, especially like me who can't draw, to map out their community and what they want their community to be like without using a writing utensil. When I was introduced to the GIS System I thought wow it's a picture of a map (sarcasm duh)! It wasn't eye grasping and didn't catch my attention at all. However, as we began into the process of creating and finishing the map it turned out to be more than I expected.
On the week of July 2-6, Mr. Andrew, Patience, and Mr. Santo introduced me to the Geographic Information System. We started out by opening a plain map and adding layers to it. Then once we had all the necessary layers, we began to apply each layer to the map bringing the map to life. Afterwards I received a visual trend of park locations, parcels, railroads, plates, faults, volcanoes, earthquakes, major cities, etc. That is when it hit me. "I can use the GIS System when I prepare to initialize the redesign of Las Granges Park (Davis Park).

Mapping

This week we learned a new and very interesting technique. We were introduced to GIS. I know someone is wondering, "what's that?" Well, it stands for Geographic Informatioin System. When I was first introduced to the program I was astonished by how much information the system had to offer. We explored the entire world from one map. With this program we saw all the MLG&W streets in Memphis. It was absolutely amazing. I actually located my house on a map of the entire world. When i located my home, it showed me the owners of it and the year it was built.

Can you believe that I found out how many cell phones there are in the United States?!!! We have over 3 MILLION!!!!! That is AMAZING! The program showed us every tree in the world, every light, every home, every street, every train track, EVERYTHING!! OMG! It was such an awesome experience!! I have to say that this was the most interesting thing that I experienced since I've been apart of the YNMI(Youth Neighborhood Mapping Initiative).

What we did Friday.

Friday we worked on GIS (which stands for geographic information system). It was fun and we enjoyed making maps on there. I couldn't do anything because every computer I got on kept malfunctioning.But I had fun watching everybody else work on the maps. We even had a competition to see who could make the exact duplicate of Charlie's map(marquez won). After that we went to lunch and Marquez and I went and played basketball. After lunch we gathered around a table and discussed our project ideas. We had some very good ideas which brought up some very interesting topic disputes.

Introduction to GIS

Last week we were introduced to something called GIS. ( Geographic information systems).This system helped us look at the neighborhood as well as different countries in many different ways. GIS informs you on the statistics of certain places in the world, for example we was able to look at the amount of phone lines as well as cell phones per person. We was also able to look at research that showed us showed us the major things like where earthquakes and volcano's have been discovered to the small things like the percentage of agriculture in and around that specific area.

As we begained to comprehend how to use GIS we was able to create our own versions. My map showed the amount of earthquakes recorded at the time compared to the amount recorded in 2003 and 2004. I also took information about the area. What kind of land it was the average temperature and connected it to the earthquakes to see if it had something to do with the ones that were active and the was that were solfatara(blowing out gases that were possibly poisonous). I discovered that most of the earthquakes were cluttered in the areas where plates would meet especially in and around Japan within the pacific and Chinese-Indonesia plates.

What's GIS

What is GIS? First of all, the letters GIS stand for Geographic Information Systems. GIS is a rapidly growing technological field that incorporates graphical features with tabular data in order to assess real-world problems. What is now the GIS field began around 1960, with the discovery that maps could be programmed using simple code and then stored in a computer allowing for future modification when necessary. The earliest version of a GIS was known as computer cartography and involved simple linework to represent land features. From that evolved the concept of overlaying different mapped features on top of each other to determine patterns and causes of spatial phenomenon.

REFERENCE

"http://gislounge.com/library/introgis.shtml"

What I Think About GIS?

I think GIS is a group program that let you map areas and places that are in a specific area. GIS stands for Geographic Information System and you also make maps on there. When you make a map you can be more specific about what you want to show on the map. It also have different symbols for everything and you can pick what symbols you want.

When I first got on GIS, I thought it was boring, but when I got the hang of the whole system it was alright. I foundout that you can add fault lines, volcanoes, and earthquakes. You can add airports, too. GIS help you understand your surroundings better and give you more information about your community.

My Feelings On Problem Properties

Anyone who knows me will tell you: I've got BIG dreams! I have things planned that noone else would ever think of. I HAVE to go to MTSU, get married by age 26, and three years later begin starting a family and eventually have three to four children and a red Dodge Caravan with cloth interior parked in our three car garage at our five bedroom, 3.5 bath home in Murfreesboro, TN. This sounds SUPER crazy to some, but its my plan. A pretty good one, I think. I chose Murfreesboro because of its suburban setting (population of 75, 468), and its low crime rate (778 violent crimes per 100K people in 2006, compared to Memphis' 1, 860 per 100K people). Also, I took into consideration the property values. I checked on the number of vacant homes in different areas of the city and I was content. Problem properties are a HUGE problem in my neighborhood, and in this city. Whether its a vacant home, a "traphouse", or one with residents that isn't up to code: They're a problem! Believe it or not, problem properties coincide with my dreams. I'm planning on having a family and if I'm going to raise children, I can't live near a problem property. Problem properties would open my children's eyes to a world of crime, trouble, and other negative ideas and actions that I wouldn't want them seeing. Also, problem properties wouldn't allow my children the chance to be children. They'd be forced to stay inside and in sight all of the time. Whether it be an abandoned house used as shelter for the homeless, a boarded up home used as a dumping site for residents, a brothel, or a "traphouse", I wouldn't raise my children next to it. I wouldn't even raise them in the same community! My dreams are very specific and problem properties DON'T fit into them!

A traphouse is a house used for the distributions of illegal substances.

Problem Properties

Today, we talked about problem properties in our neighborhoods. Problem properties are just that: Properties that cause a problem in their neighborhoods. These properties could be vacant & boarded up or they could be inhabited but in violation of city code. Problem properties are the first symptom of neighborhood decline; they bring down the property value of the homes in their otherwise healthy neighborhoods; and they might indicate that a land-use is not the best use for that neighborhood. For instance, a corner-lot home that cannot seem to keep residents because of the busy street might be better-used for a corner-store.

Earlier today, we split up into two groups and set off to photograph problem properties within the blocks of Semmes & Highland and Southern & Park. We gathered data in the Messick-Buntyn area about problem properties. We saw plenty of houses that made the neighborhood look bad. The pictures below are indicative of some of the properties that we consider problem properties. As we continue to work on our project, we will be mapping and addressing how the neighborhood can resolve these problem properties.


798 Brower


3262 Park Ave.
846 S. Greer

I Feel Like Such A... City Planner!!! lol

• Today was a veryyy interesting day. First, Patience, Selena, and I went to St. Luke's United Methodist Church on Highland to assist with "appreciation cookies" for the mostly hispanic construction workers who are building the new apartment complex on Highland, across the street from the church. It was an unforgettable experience! I had so much fun attempting to converse and watching Patience translate. Oh and the cookies were GREAT!!
  
  
  
  

• While we were enjoying our "galletas", Mr. Andrew, Marshanique, Shay, Patrick, Jeremy & Marquez were going to Davis Park to do some behavior mapping. However, when they got to Davis, there was no behavior to map.

• Then we all met up for lunch at Wendy's.

• After lunch, we drove to the University's City Planning Lab and learned how to use ArcGis Mapping Software. It was surprisingly FUN! lol We learned new and interesting facts about different countries and differences and similarities between them.
  

• This program will DEFINITELY be of good use with making our neighborhood better. Not only will we be able to map crime; but we'll be able to map the locations of abandoned houses, streetlights, trees, parks, corner stores, etc., and see if the presence or lack of those have any affect on the neighborhood

ME, An ASSET

I think I bring alot of assets to the project because I am very open-minded and influential. I also believe that I am a role model among my co-workers. I bring new ideas to the table and I speak my mind very fluently

What assets do I bring to the project?

Some assets I bring to the project are I live in the community, also I'm a youth so I see different on the problems in the community. I came up with a plan to deal with the abandoned houses and make our community a more livable place. I want to see abandoned houses torn down, and child care centers and affordable housing built. I would like to see communities cutting out noise pollution, emphasizing the code enforcement rule, and putting an end to the littering. Abandoned house are a haven for drugs, prostitution, rape, and other malicious crimes. I think child care centers and affordable housing would be a much better alternative.

I'm Valuable?!

Earlier this week, we were discussing what assets our communities have and what assets we bring to them. That discussion made me wonder what assets, if any, i bring to my community, and my city.
This Program:

• My Eloquence and Fast-Typing, lol
• My LOVE for research & history
  
• My ability to communicate with senior citizens in a way that they actually understand & CARE!

This City & This Community:

• I'm a young person who wants to be something, and wants to make a difference, and although we don't get as much attention as the youth who choose to wrong, there are still ALOT of us out there.
  

Personally i think that being apart of the neighborhood is a big asset that i offer to this project. Living here I'm able to see the everyday crime and i understand the struggle that this brings among our community. Seeing the abandon houses and the drugs i know what to push towards off top. What is the main sources that causes our neighborhood to go downhill like its doing. By seeing these problems and bringing them to our attention is giving us a head start on what we need to do. Instead of searching for these problems we already have them brainstorming on how to improve them.

What assets do I bring to the project?

Some assets I bring to the project are that I live in the community,and I know more of what goes on in the neighborhood than adults. I am very interested in changing my neighborhood because I want it to be a better place for my self and my children. I want to see all the abandoned houses in memphis gone,and affordable housing put up. I don't want to see the neighborhood go corrupt because of the violence and drugs. I want people to see the positive instead of the negative they always see when they turn the t.v on.

HARC the Herald!!! WOW!!!!

Today was such a very productive day. We went over to the St. Luke's United Methodist Church to meet with the wonderful H.A.R.C. group(Highland Area Renewal Corporation). The most interesting part of this It was a very successful meeting and might I add, I really enjoyed their company. We learned so much about their organization. It feels so good to know that their are other people in our neighborhoods who actually care about our neighborhoods. Everyone from our organization introduced themselves and basically informed the other organization about what we do. We learned about all of their upcoming events to help take back the neighborhood. I think I speak for everyone when I say that this was an awesome experience. HARC is a very productive and beneficial organixation with the same hope and dreams as us and we hope to both come together and make our community better.

Behavioral Mapping of the day

Today we got introduced to something called behavioral mapping. This reflects the way people interact/behave with the surroundings at parks or areas in general. This as well is a way that shows what could be added to improve a park and what can be taken out. The way people interact with each other, how they use the objects in the area, what seems like something that attracts these visitors, the population in the area and even where people sit--these are all questions that we had to ask ourselves as we visited the Court Square park downtown. We saw that the park was in use and yes it had a beautiful setting but it could have offered more. There was a gazebo that could have had more inside to bring the visitors and make it even more relaxing. There was a gorgeous water fountain, but no small drinking fountains for people there. There was plenty off shade, but no areas for the children to go to where they can enjoy themselves and have fun. Even though there are a lot of businesses around the area there were not many business people in the park. In fact, there are a lot of homeless people lying around. The way people were relaxed and conversing in the park you could tell that it was a calm area that you would go to on a nice day during lunch break or just a place where you can go to release thoughts. Speaking for myself and in this case for my teammates as well, I think that we have discovered that there is more that comes out of our actions.

*Communication goes further than speaking*

SUPER PRODUCTIVE DAY!

Today was a really good day.
Like yesterday, we split up into groups, but this time, each group had an adult. We rode to Alexander Ave. off of Central (?)...I Think that's Central. Anyway: We were on Alexander. We each took a side, and we went. The assignment was to take photos of houses similar to the ones we saw yesterday, and to go back to the school and print information on the value, renovations, owners, etc. from the Shelby County Property Assessor Site. In MY group we found that the homes were built around the same years, however the ones on THAT side of the tracks averaged to be a whole $75,000 more expensive than the ones on the other side. VERY weird!

After that, we watched a VERY interesting film on the James Kennedy VA Hospital. Ever since I can remember, I've heard people mention the "old VA hospital", but i've never gotten a chance to hear about the details from someone who was there. I was like "Ohhhh Lord! A BORING FILM! AHHHHHH!" But it was great! I learned about the history of the street, Getwell, and how some people even migrated to Memphis to help out. I even learned (from my mom), that my granddad died there in 1963, just two weeks before she was born. After the film, the day was done, but I'm SOOO glad I got to watch it, and I can't wait to learn more about it. (Perhaps when its NOT 12:11 AM!) lol

-skylEr!

H.A.R.C Presentation

Y.N.M.I.
(Youth Neighborhood Mapping Initiative)

Good Morning! My Name Is Skyler Harris and I live in the Messick-Buntyn District, and for a few weeks now, I’ve been working with The Youth Neighborhood Mapping Initiative, along with Selena, Shay, Jeremy, Marshanique, Marquez, and Patrick. So far, through this program, I’ve not only learned about the landscaping and mapping of my neighborhood, but also about some of the history of Messick-Buntyn, and Orange Mound as well. In fact, I learned that the Southern Railroad was the first railroad to connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.
But about the Mapping Initiative: We’re a group of teens who live in various parts of the University District and have an interest in making positive changes in our community. We are working with a team of city planning students, professors, and professionals to identify the pros and cons of our neighborhoods and share our thoughts to come up with ways to solve problems and get the community involved.

II. What we are doing?
A. Gathering Data/ Information
We visit numerous parts of Memphis focusing on what one area has that we could use to better or be an asset to our community.
B. Blog Entries
We created a blog page to tell about what we do on a daily basis. It also includes our inputs and opinions on what we did and how we feel about it. Our goal is to keep people in our neighborhood informed about assets and liabilities in our neighborhoods.
C. Learning New things

We have learned so many new terms that refer to city planning and landscaping. We also learn a lot about the history of our neighborhood
We are interested in changing the community because we want it to be a better place for our children and ourselves. Our community used to be an example of a livable community but through the years, drugs and violence have corrupted our neighborhoods and our youth. Through the years, people have moved away to less violent areas of the city. The evidence of people leaving the neighborhoods is visible in the multitude of abandoned houses seen on each street. The assets of our neighborhoods are hidden because of the obvious liabilities I just spoke about. Because of the evident problems in our neighborhoods we see everyday, we want outsiders to see the positives in our neighborhoods and this is what we are working towards this summer.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life we often forget to give back to our neighborhoods. As teenagers we believe we must take back our neighborhoods and become role models for our peers, siblings, and parents. By identifying the assets and liabilities in our neighborhood we can create plans to improve them. These plans can benefit community residents now and build stronger neighborhoods for the future generations. We need to improve the community for all generations. We want to give our community a peaceful environment where everyone can relax and enjoy themselves. We want to improve to give future generations a more positive setting, and a better outlook on life. Motivating them to look up to more and achieve past the obvious high school diploma.

We are putting a plan together to deal with the abandoned houses and make our community a more livable place. We would like to see abandoned houses torn down, and child care centers and affordable housing built. We’d like to see communities cutting out noise pollution, emphasizing the code enforcement rules, and putting an end to the littering. Abandoned houses are a haven for drugs, prostitution, rape, and other malicious crimes. Child care centers and affordable housing would be a much better alternative.

Our project is based on a call to action to the youth. We basically want to influence our young people to get involved with the community. We also want to get the community to realize the importance of the youth. We have different views of certain situations, which mean we also have different solutions. Our input is very valuable to the community, and is needed so we could reach out to more youth. We also want to reach out to the present generation, because if we can build on our present it will make a better future. We need the elderly to provide and watch over our youth. Our neighborhood should be able to look out for each other. If we could get the youth involved with the community, then that would mean less youth on the streets. We believe a change is needed, because the death rate of youth in Memphis is too high. If we can all get together and use our ideas, and your ideas we could see an improved community.

Architectural Touring

We walked around the Messick-Buntyn neighborhood and took pictures of diffrent types of houses. We had two group the went diffrent ways. Both groups started going seperate ways on Spotswood and returned on Carnes. One of our groups ended up getting chased by dogs LOL. We realized that most of the houses that we saw were of the same architecture. The houses with a different style were in the better neighborhoods, but the ones in the coves all looked the same. We also got prepared for our presentation with HARC Wensday. It's going to be a presentation on the importance of our community. We are going to see if we can make a diffrence with our presentation and reach out to everyone there.

Salon

I was watching a movie called Salon on Friday night. It was a very inspiring movie. Every neighborhood has that special place where people from the community can come, sit, talk and get their hair done. For many, it's the thread that holds neighborhoods together. In an era of corporate takeovers in the high stakes real estate market, the neighborhood shop is a dying breed with little resources to fight back. In a way, it inspired me to want me to reach out and take back our community. The film was about a community of people who were, pretty much, in the same predicament as us. They lived in the middle of the ghetto. They had to deal with abandoned houses, drug dealers, homeless people, intoxicated people walking their streets, gang violence etc. When we compare their community to our neighborhood, Orange Mound, we see that we have alot in common. The movie really revolved around this one young lady named Jenny, who owned her own business in this community. She owned a beauty salon. People would come to the salon on a regular basis not only to get their hair done but they also had friends who worked in the salon. So it's not literally a mixed- use but I just referred to it as one, because it was used to do hair, counseling, and love connections. LOL!! Anyway, one day Jenny gets a letter in the mail that informs her that the Department of Water and Power(DWP) is forcing her out of her building so that they can tear it down and make it into a parking lot. This is an example of eminent domain - the power of public agencies to take private property for public use. Now they were offering her money for her removal, but she didnt want to take it. The salon was a family business that had sentimental values to her. Michael, the lawyer on behalf of the DWP came to the shop one day to tell her that she had to get ready to move. He was an African American lawyer who worked for an all white company. Jenny was so hurt, but she didnt tell any of her employees what was going on. She was still praying for a miracle. A couple of days later she got a phone call from Michael that he wasnt supposed to make. Her informed her that the city was having a final hearing about her case and she could come and defend her business if she wanted to. So she went down to the city hall and she explained to them the value that her salon held. They paid her no attention and declared that she had lost the case. They would be shuuting her down. However, Jenny didnt like that answer. Jenny gathered all of her employees and told them what was happening. The employees realized that they needed the salon so they decided to go and voice their opinions about the salon. Jenny began to do research and was looking through some history books when she saw a picture of her building being used as a commercial use in her neighborhood. With the employees envading the court then Jenny showing them the history of the building they decided that the building had too mush historic value to just tear down. She was able to keep her building and all was well. My point is, we can fight back and save our community. Our voice counts.

Why is it important to be involved in your community?

Many answers can be directed to this question especially towards our younger generation because not only do we hold the path of our present we also hold the path to our future and the next generation after us. If we lead by example trying to improve our surroundings showing respect to our community then we could possibly motivate others our age, younger and older to do the same. If we show the younger children that there is nothing wrong with being involved in your community then they will also lead by example doing the same that we did improving the communities further future as well. If we don't show that we care and that we don't want to make a change then people won't care as well and with that attitude nobody can help improve anything.

It is extremely important to improve our community because if we don't then who will.

Being Involved With Your Community

I believe that it is so important to be an active member of our community. I mean so many different things go on in one day right amongst our communities. Yet, and still, we our so dumbfounded about alot of things. That's a prime example of why it's important to know our community. So as you can see, it's not only important to help out your community. It's important because it can benefit you as well. Also, you may want to be aware of crime, loose dogs, sex offenders, or anything that can cause harm to you or your family. We also want to have a say-so in what kind of Big Box or commercial use is placed in our near our home. Who wants to be exposed to all of the noisse pollutin and traffic inthe privacy of their own home? Not me. We want to make sure that our home is in a liveable community. However, how is that possible if we're not involved in our community to know what is happening around us? True enough, the City Government makes the official decisions about our community design, but we also have a say-so. We should want to make sure that our community is a developed land. We don't want anything lacking or out of place. Believe it or not, we can actually make an impact on whether or not that request is honored. All of the greenfields and abandoned houses in our neighborhoods make us look bad as a whole. We can use in-fill as a strategy to redevelope those abandoned houses. It's not like they're serving any purpose being what they are. I take that back. It's not like they're serving any kind of positive purpose. They are being used for drugs, prostitution, gang uses, rape spots, sex, and just a whole lot of things that I know no one in their right mind would want to live around. These places could be used for a more beneficial use, such as: multi-family housing, public space, or even more community facilities to better the lives of young people. In conclusion, we must all be very and I do very involved and active in our communities if we want to see a change. If we step up to the plate and start demanding a better life, then maybe others will see just how important it is.

Get your community game up pimpin'...

I know, when you step out of the house, it would be nice to see a clean environment. This is why it's important to get involved in your community. No one wants their part of town to be a trash can; therefore, DON'T BE A LITTER BUG!!! Pick up ya trash bruh throw it where you throw all your waste; I'm sure the trash people will take care of it.

Trash is only one of the few ways to get involved in your community. You can also get involved with the youth. we must focus on keeping them out the streets so they can learn to do something with their life. This is important becuase the youth is the future and we want a bright future. Now if i'm wrong you tell me what we should do or what sbould happen.

These are only a few ways to get involved with the community. Let's get out and make a change together...come on wud do ya say...let's get our community game up pimpin'.

Importance of Community Involvement

Why is it important to be involved in your communities? Community involvement is important because everyone should have a voice in making decisions that will affect their lives. Also, when you get involved in your community you could help make important decisions that can be vital to your future. Despite others' endeavors to bring down the neighborhood, your opinions and involvement could make a major impact on the future development of your neighborhood.


A community can consist of many things, for instance, schools, houses, stores, community facilities, and parks. However, it takes those who reside in the neighborhood to keep it strong and together. (i.e. especially youth involvement) I say youth involvement because we as youth perceive the world different than those older or younger than us.


Youth are the future, and we are aware of the necessities that could make our community better. For example, Davis Park located on Spottswood Avenue could be a better place for children to enjoy their childhood, if it contained cleaner and safer portable bathroom stalls, more playground equipment that can sustain the attention of the children, a sanitary water fountain that is not located directly in the hot sun, no graffiti on the table or the slide, and near by waste basket so that they won't litter because the garbage can is too far.

Why is it important to be involved in your communities?

I think is important to be involved in our communities because we need the youth input and that can make the community good for now and the future. For now, we can get rid of all the abandoned houses and vacant lots. We can change the abandoned houses to day cares, affordable houses, and corner stores. Day cares are for the little children that don't have any daycare to go to. Affordable house for the homeless and the people who can't afford expensive homes. If the homeless get a job, they can keep their homes. Corner stores will be good because we can't have too many corner stores and it can be for the people who don't want to drive to the store, they can go to the corner store.

These ideas are for the future, too, because you can still use the day cares, affordable houses, and corner stores in the future. People are going to have children so the day cares are going to be good and also the affordable houses would be good for the growing families in the future. The little children can't go to the corner store to get some milk by themselves, but it makes it easy for the parents. That means they don't have to go to stores like Kroger, Wal-Mart, and Walgreen's.

Get On Your Job!

Have you ever gotten on the expressway and got off on the Hacks Cross exit and felt like you were in an entirely different city? Or what about The Avenue Carriage Crossing? Ever wished there was a CLEAN strip mall like that in your neighborhood? It is so important for people to be involved in their communities because one day someone could drive into your neighborhood & become impressed. A lot of times I wonder what changes could be made in my neighborhood to get it to where it could be.

Problems (In My Opinion):

• Unruly Children
• Littering
• Loitering
• Domestic Disputes
  

ALL of these problems go back to one solution: PEOPLE ACTUALLY CARING!

If you actually care about your neighborhood, you take your children to the park instead of allowing them to play unsupervised in the front yard or in the middle of the apartment complex! If you care about your neighborhood, you throw your trash in the trash can, not in your neighbor's front yard. If you care about your neighborhood you don't loiter outside. FOR WHAT?! That just looks TACKY in my opinion! Last but not least, if you care about your neighborhood you don't "bump" your music SUPER loud so that everyone knows you're "BALLIN!" There should be no competition. We live together, and we should work together to get the neighborhood the way it should be and KEEP it that way.
I often wonder if other people see the neighborhood the way I do. I'm glad I live on the "good side", but I'm not willing nor am I ready to see my neighborhood go down. It's VERY important to be involved in your communities. If you don't get involved and fight for a better community, who will? YOU live there not the mayor, not the city council members. Get On Your Job!

Good Framing Gone Bad!!!

Lol... It was just a funny subject because Mr. Andrew told us the wrong thing. Let's get prepared to do it again groups.

We had two groups, one focused on the neighborhood east of Highland and the other group focused on the west of Highland. Group 1 involved Mr. Andrew, P Jay, Selena, and Marquez; Group 2 involved Patience, Shay, Jeremy and Skyler. The purpose of the exercise was to take photos of community places that are important to us and that we feel are the best examples of our community.

Group 1: The first picture we took was The New Olivet Baptist Church on Southern Ave. Across from the church we took a picture of a historic house and the Southern Railroad track. Next we got a picture of Lord's Tabenacle Holiness Church on Midland. Then, we got pictures of the Orange Mound Community Center and the back of it where we found what we are calling No Name Park and the old Melrose High School building. The last place we visited was Cherokee Park where we found a whole lot of open space.

Group 2: First we went to Audubon Park and noticed a playground directly in the sun with no children playing. We visited the park's family area, which was abandoned as well. We spoke with some senior citizens who informed us that very few children are found playing in the park. Then, we traveled down Park Ave. to Marquette Park off of Mendenhall. This park was the best we've seen yet. It had just enough play equipment, enough shade, but not TOO many trees, and the porto-pottys AND the water fountains were located in a central location that was easy to reach but still away from the main features of the park. Marquette wasn't deserted; in fact, there were a lot of families and children playing and watching a group of people playing baseball. After that, we went to Halle Park/Stadium and we found comfort in seeing that it was located next to the Mt. Moriah Police Precinct. Overall, it was a good trip, and we found A LOT of differences between the three.

Peabody Park's Wet Area by Selena

Peabody Park
Originally uploaded by Youth Mappers (University District)

We visited the Peabody Park last week and I am very pleased to say that we enjoyed our stay there. They had such a beautiful park and might I add, it was very inviting. They have lots of play equipment for the children. My favorite part was the motion sensory. The children were so excited to discover that their small hands could make such a big difference. lol. All in all, among all the parks we went to, Peabody Park was the BEST

What I think about my job...

I think this is a straight job. I like the fact that we are going to be doing things to help this community. I also like learning these diffrent terms and stuff like that. Then I'm learning a lot about maps and I found a new way to get around. All of my co-workers are pretty cool too...even Shay;lol. So yeah...this is what I think of my job.

P.S.
Ya really don't have to call me Patrick if you don't want to . I also go by P Jay.

What I Would Change About My Neighborhood?

I would change a the vacant lot and abandon houses/buildings. If we could take away all the abandon houses/buildings and rebuild them, we can have better homes and place for people to go to or live. Or we can change the vacant lots to parks for the little children to play. My neighborhood would be better and more interesting to others once all the vacant lots and abandon house/buildings get redevelopement.

WOW! I Wish Everyone Knew This!

While I was doing research on "that darn train", i stumbled upon information about the Orange Mound/Messick-Buntyn Area & now I see where the street names came from.

Buntyn Station was named after Geraldus Buntyn who built a home along the Memphis & Charleston Railroad in the 1800's, after receiving a land grant when he moved from NC. After he dided in 1865, some of his land eventually became the Memphis Country Club.

Another landowner was David. S. Greer. He bought property east and south of Buntyn’s Station. He became a successful planter and built two homes. One was built at Carnes and Prescott, where the Prescott Circle subdivision is today (BY MY HOUSE!!!). The other was on Kimball Avenue south of Park Avenue in the Nonconnah Bottoms, which is in Orange Mound East. Greer also donated the land on which Messick School was built, and Greer Street was named for him.

Last but not least, John George Deaderick owned 5,000 acres in Shelby County, which was known as the Orange Mound plantation, extending eastward from Airways to Semmes Street. The farm was named for the osage orange hedge found on its borders. Some of the land was purchased from the Deadericks to develop as an African-American subdivision, today known as Orange Mound. Many of the street names running through this area can be traced back to the Deaderick family. Mike Deaderick, John George Deaderick's son, gave the county the right-of-way through his land for the road and was able to name these roads. Deadrick Avenue was a misspelling of the Deaderick name. Park Avenue came from Jane Park, who was the wife of Mike Deaderick. Barron Avenue was named for his mother’s family, and Spottswood Avenue came from a cousin.

WOW!!!!

Osage Orange Plant:




"Cultural Resources Survey of Messick-Buntyn and Orange Mound East." 16 June 2007 .

We have a voice.

Well for starters my neighborhood isn't exactly one of the good neighborhoods. But one day I wish it could be like Red Acres or Cherokee Gardens. But with all of the crime and abandoned houses, I don't want to call my neighborhood home. Maybe if the city would stop spending millions of dollars on river fronts and try to help out people who need it the most, neighborhoods wouldn't be so bad.

THAT DARN TRAIN!

I absolutely LOVE the neighborhood I live in. Its 10-20 minutes away from every other neighborhood, there are COUNTLESS numbers of fast-food restaurants (McDonald's, Wendy's, KFC, etc.), sit-down places (On The Border, Chili's, Rafferty's, etc.), The Oak Court Mall, The Paradiso, etc. However, ONE unwanted feature of my neighborhood is the Southern Railroad (formerly known as the Memphis and Charleston Railroad). The noise doesn't bother me at all. Infact, I seldom hear the train, but, when the train goes during the busiest times of the day it annoys the CRAP out of me. I can remember times when I waited on the train to hurry up and move, and it stopped, and went back the other way!

Anyways: I did a bit of research and it almost made me APPRECIATE having the train in MY neighborhood.

Did you know that the Southern Railroad was completed in 1857, and became the 1st U.S. railroad to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. It ran from Memphis, TN to Stevenson, AL and stopped through towns in Mississippi & North Carolina. It even holds a piece of CIVIL WAR History. On April 11, 1862, Gen. Mitchell's Union troops captured Huntsville, cutting off this railroads use for the Confederacy.

WOW! This REALLY Changed My Mind! Yes something needs to be done about the train's scheduling, BUT it holds alot of history, and I wish I had known this sooner!




That Darn Train In 1885:



Sources:

1. "Cultural Resources Survey of Messick-Buntyn and Orange Mound East." 16 June 2007 .

2. "Memphis and Charleston Railroad." Wikipedia. 16 June 2007 .

My Dream for a Better Memphis

I have a dream that one day Memphis will build many features that will keep the young adult population off of the streets. They say that a person raised in South Memphis, Orange Mound, or North Memphis will be less intelligent than someone from Cordova, Germantown, or Southaven. Why is that? My fellow Memphians, Memphis is good, but good is no longer good enough. We have to rise up from the mentality that we cannot succeed. We have to prove to ourselves and to the remainder of the world that we are more than an environment of poverty and crime. We live in the mighty city of Memphis, and we can overcome any obstacle that stands in our way if we strive together. We must rebuild our city, for we are worthy to be praised. This is my dream for a better a Memphis.

Why I Love My Job

Well, for starters, my job allows me to express my feelings and opinions about my neighborhood. It gives me an opportunity to help my community as well as my city to become a better place for one to live.