The Southside Choice Neighborhoods Plan will employ a comprehensive approach to neighborhood planning by revitalizing the distressed Thomas James Place, R.V. Taylor Plaza, and Boykin Tower while investing and leveraging investments in well-functioning services, high quality public schools and education programs, high quality early learning programs and services, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs.
Early in the Rosewood Choice planning process, Camiros led a Community Workshop utilizing a unique Story Boarding approach to identifying neighborhood assets. Each group consisted of approximately eight community members who identified physical, social, cultural and economic neighborhood-valued assets within the Rosewood community.
Children are a constituency often overlooked in design development outreach. In collaboration with Communities in Schools and Lifeworks, HACA held several focus groups with Rosewood Courts youth in 2013. The youth discussed the things that are important to them as their neighborhood changes and grows, amenities and services they would like to see as part of a new Rosewood Courts, as well as their concerns about potential changes.
In April 2014, a Kids Design Meeting was held to develop ideas for play areas and green spaces that could be incorporated into the Rosewood Courts site plan as design development proceeds.
Finally, Rosewood youth will assist in a video project to provide information on the Rosewood Choice Neighborhoods initiative and other HACA programs, by learning about film-making and assisting the film crew.
This Planning Handbook is a guide to the Rosewood Choice Neighborhoods planning process. It describes how to go about envisioning a great neighborhood along with the necessary steps in developing a complete plan.
The Planning Handbook is a tool that interested community residents, organizations, local businesses and service providers can use to help build a plan. It describes the elements of a good plan, the steps to be taken to develop it and the role of the community and planning professionals in preparing the plan.
Current Rosewood Courts residents are HACA’s key constituency and bringing them meaningfully into the planning process was a high priority. In order to engage Rosewood Courts residents, and more importantly to improve their ability to articulate their desires for Rosewood Courts and the surrounding neighborhood during meetings with more vocal and long-standing neighborhood groups, a number of activities were undertaken to improve their capacity and ability to participate in planning. The planning team met with only Rosewood Courts residents on multiple occasions to solicit ideas, information and opinions about what a new Rosewood Courts should look like. Austin Interfaith mentored residents so that they could express their views concerning the future of Rosewood Courts before HACA’s Board of Commissioners and the Texas Historical Commission and in community planning meetings. This effort to build capacity of Rosewood Courts residents to actively participate in planning for the future has been a hallmark of the planning process.
Training was conducted with the Rosewood Courts Resident Council and other interested residents. These trainings provided basic information on understanding power, credentialing, qualities of leaders, levels of leadership, how to gather information on issues of cross-cutting concerns at Rosewood Courts. Outside of the apprenticeship program, approximately 10 residents attended a “house meeting” with Austin Interfaith and HACA Choice Neighborhoods staff to share their particular concerns and experiences regarding employment and childcare. The meeting assessed the interest of participants in canvassing other Rosewood Courts residents regarding their experiences with these particular issues.
Residents also went on a bus tour of other affordable housing projects throughout Austin to see what is possible at Rosewood Courts. Everyone was encouraged to stay involved in the planning process and has been kept informed through a monthly newsletter, The Rosewood Report.
