| Originally a mixed income, racially heterogeneous community when it was developed in the 1890s, the Georgian neighborhood of Mechanicsville has changed extensively over time. While the first residents included railroad workers ("mechanics") who were domestic workers and white collar business people in the shops along the Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia railroad line, most of the current 3,830 individuals who live in the area suffer from high poverty, vacant land, and rising rental housing rates. This change is the result of the impact of gentrification on this community, an issue that will be dealt with over the next few years.
To create a mixed income, racially heterogeneous community reminiscent of its former composition, Georgia State University Research Foundation will concentrates its efforts on the neighborhood of Mechanicsville to provide comprehensive community development. Applying lessons learned from its previous work involving 20 projects spread across nine-inner-city communities in the region, the Foundation will focus its attention addressing a number of identified community needs, including increasing affordable housing, reducing crime, and fostering economic development. In particular, the effort will concentrate on:
capacity building for SUMMECH Community Development Corporation, the Mechanicsville Civic Association, and the McDaniel Glenn Resident Association, through active engagement in redeveloping the community through the use of students and by providing staff support;
developing community-resident-based crime prevention programs;
developing programs and actions to retain existing residents in the face of gentrification;
expanding existing housing programs and developing significant new ones;
fostering commercial development.
The Georgia State University Research Foundation will conduct this initiative in partnership with the Atlanta Project's Neighborhood Collaborative, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Community Design Center of Atlanta, SUMMECH, the Mechanicsville Civic Association, and the McDaniel Glenn Resident Association.
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