MORGANTOWN — Civic pride starts at home.
That’s to say the level of engagement and connection a person fosters within their street, block and neighborhood goes a long way in determining how they feel about their city as a whole.
This is the central theme behind the Morgantown Mosaic Neighborhood Pride and Engagement Initiative – a civic pride program being explored by the city of Morgantown.
Championed by Councilor Mark Downs, the program would see the city budget a certain amount of funds each year that could serve as 50% matching grants to assist with small-to-moderate sized projects presented by the various neighborhood associations.
“The idea is quite clear,” Downs said. “We build stronger connections between our residents when we have projects for our residents to engage in that are important to them, and what’s most important to us is the areas that we live in and those opportunities to engage, remove blight, improve perceptions and create visible immediate wins to have an impact on our neighborhoods.”
The city’s Neighborhood Coordinating Council – which includes representatives from the city’s various recognized neighborhood associations – would serve as the selection board, working with city staff to vet and rank projects for inclusion in the competitive grant process.
Eligible project types listed in the draft establishing ordinance include, but are not limited to, public art, beautification efforts, signage, public events, neighborhood branding and minor physical improvements.
Qualifying neighborhoods, per the draft legislation, would include any identifiable geographic community within the city’s corporate limits, whether formally or informally recognized.
The city’s list of formally recognized neighborhoods includes Evansdale, First Ward, Greenmont, Jerome Park, Norwood, South Hills, South Park, Suncrest, Wiles Hill and Woodburn.
One of the stated goals of the program would be to help energize areas recognized by the city as having disproportionately low civic engagement.
“Really, it just draws on, like I said, the enthusiasm that I’ve seen in neighborhoods that are thriving, and reflecting on neighborhoods that used to be thriving and now not necessarily are, and why,” Downs said.
