Southeast Strong Initiative applies for city improvement grants
Inclusivity and collaboration are 2 of the goals behind the Southeast Initiative, a new community-led project that could bring almost $30 million in grants to make improvements to streets, parks, and other elements of the city. City officials, including Bakersfield's Vice Mayor and Ward 2 Councilmember Andrae Gonzales, say the southeast is one of the most disadvantaged areas in the city, which is why they are working with residents to implement change. 23ABC's Breanna Polk spoke with Gonzales to learn more about the initiative.
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00:00 city of Bakersfield working to enhance the southeast area of town. A new
00:04 community led initiative could bring almost $30 million to complete a
00:07 handful of projects that would transform streets, parks and other
00:11 elements of the city. After speaking with city staff about the initiative,
00:15 23 abc's Brianna Polk met with members of the community to learn more about
00:19 what they hope to see completed. Inclusivity and collaboration are two
00:25 of the goals behind the southeast initiative, a plan created by the
00:28 community for the community. The city says southeast is one of the most
00:32 disadvantaged areas and that is why staff and residents are working to
00:37 implement change. We've really made a concerted effort to get out into the
00:42 community and hear directly from residents and allow them, allow the
00:46 residents to prioritize what issues we should apply for. And so that's really
00:52 democracy in action. And for me, that's where transformation really begins.
00:56 Vice mayor in Bakersfield City Councilman of Ward two Andre Gonzalez
01:00 says the city submitted an application for the transformative climate
01:04 communities grant an investment that would fund various projects in the
01:08 southeast, some of which include a safe routes to school project, the
01:12 revitalization of dr Martin Luther King Jr Park, a complete streets project
01:17 for dr Martin Luther King boulevard among others projects. Community
01:21 member Nina Gutierrez says she looks forward to. Well, that's great. My
01:25 thoughts are good. That's great. That's terrific. It's for the kids use.
01:28 It's for the kids. So many people go out here with bikes and they can't
01:32 usually cross. They can't usually cross cars go through fast here and this is
01:37 the school zone. My daughter goes to school here to jenny Byers, assistant
01:40 director of economic and community development for the city goes on to
01:44 explain how the complete streets project would help both pedestrians and
01:48 motorists. And what complete streets are is you reimagine the street, you
01:53 typically narrow them a little bit, have curb gutter, a landscape strip
02:00 and then sidewalk also includes bike lanes. And so dr Martin Luther King
02:05 boulevard, if we were to receive this grant would do a complete streets
02:09 project through the neighborhood. Gonzalez says the ultimate goal is to
02:13 create what he calls an M. O. K. Prosperity neighborhood that will focus
02:18 on how do we build wealth uh in East Bakersfield, Southeast Bakersfield and
02:23 how do we help people own homes, start a new business, develop other pathways
02:29 to uh to entering into the middle class. True revitalization work will not
02:34 happen from the top down. It's always from the bottom up and the city says
02:37 they hope to have these funds implemented by the end of this year to
02:41 kick start the beginning stages of the Southeast initiative in Southeast
02:45 Bakersfield. I'm Brianna Polk 23 bc News connecting you