| Soon after it was established, the Lafayette neighborhood of Jersey City, New Jersey, became home to the Morris Canal, a regional freight transportation waterway that cuts through the north and west portions of the neighborhood. After the canal opened, factories began operating along its towpath so they could more easily move their goods to market. This rapid industrialization changed the character and development of Lafayette, which began to resemble a company town where many factory employees made their homes. When the factories began to falter after World War II, local residents gradually found themselves with fewer job opportunities, lower incomes, and a deteriorating housing stock. Nevertheless, what is now called the Lafayette/Morris Canal neighborhood is still a vibrant community. Generations of families continue to own homes and live there.
The Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) at New Jersey City University (NJCU) in Jersey City will be working with the City of Jersey City, the Jersey City Housing Authority, St. Peter's College, and the Jersey City Police Department to help revitalize Layette/Morris Canal. The COPC is called COPC BUILDS, which stands for Better Understanding, Infrastructure, Leadership, Development, and Safety.
Blight characterizes the COPC target area, despite city efforts during the 1990s to build hundreds of affordable housing units there. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the neighborhood's poverty rate was 34.4 percent in 1990, compared with a municipal poverty rate of 18.6 percent. Almost half (49 percent) of residents did not graduate from high school or receive a GED; 25 percent have less than a ninth grade education. The area has a housing vacancy rate of 9.2 percent.
Ironically, the target area is within a short light-rail ride from the center of Jersey City's new economy: a burgeoning world-class financial district along the city's waterfront. This new economy has provided many benefits to local residents, including increased job opportunities, an expanding tax base, improved public spaces, and a better city image. However, there are many residents who still lack the skills and education to benefit from this new economy.
COPC BUILDS will focus its activities in four areas that were identified by neighborhood residents as critical to rebuilding their community: community organizing, crime prevention, economic development, and infrastructure improvements.
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