The CPAP team was invited to develop a strategic plan for this neighborhood surrounding the West Side County Park in Newark’s Central Ward. The neighborhood has many of the challenges facing older city neighborhoods throughout New Jersey, including poverty, high crime, challenged schools, abandoned buildings and lot, a lack of jobs, and inadequate recreational activities for children. All of these challenges have become more severe since the recession that started in 2008, now exacerbated by the high number of foreclosed residential properties. The client is a non-profit community based organization called the Tri-City People’s Corporation. The client wants to develop a plan for organizing the neighborhood around a series of strategies that can address the neighborhood’s most pressing challenges. While the project is not complete, there have been two meetings held with a project steering committee and a draft report is now ready for them to review. The final product should be posted on this site soon.