Members of the Southside community are hoping to have 20/20 vision into the future.

About 20 community members joined planners from the City and Community Action Development Corporation of Bethlehem (CADCB) for a meeting called Southside 2020, held Sept. 24 at Café the Lodge on Fourth Street to discuss ongoing improvements and plan for the community’s future.

Planning and Zoning Director Darlene Heller attended with other city staff members. They were joined by Carolina Martinez, director of CADCB, Yadira Colon-Lopez of CADCB, and Paul Pierpoint, a member the CADCB board and steering committee.

The meeting was hosted by Jackie Teitzworth, program director of Café the Lodge.

Pierpoint said the CADCB is an example of “the community deciding what it wants to do for itself. Residents impact quality of life.” The Southside vision plan 2020 has an expanded scope for the future, Pierpoint explained. “It’s amazing what’s happening. It’s being driven by members of the community,” he said.

Heller spoke on what Southside Vision has done so far. “How did we get to this point?” It began with a city master plan and expanded into a downtown masterplan in 2005. The Southside Vision plan focused on neighborhoods, Heller said.

She added that accomplishing the plan directive was made possible with funding through a neighborhood partnership program with sponsors. “We’ve had great support from community partners,” Heller said.

Some of the recent improvements she cited include the open space Greenway, begun in 2008 when the city purchased the railroad right of way. The Greenway was funded by community partnership and a three-year stable community grant. Heller said the eastern gateway is one of the first impressions visitors have. The eastern gateway has undergone extreme transformation in recent years. “We’re trying to clean that up,” she said. The skate plaza is a part of the improvements, which involved partnership with the city parks department.

Heller said the mural program at the skate plaza is another important improvement project. “They’re not small projects. They create a new vital face.”

Another aspect of the improvements included streetlights all along Fourth Street, which stretches from the eastern gateway all the way across to the western boundary. “It’s a very important street in south side,” Heller said.

Southside Vision 2020 includes surveys of residents to see what further improvements are needed. “We have a long way to go,” she said.

Martinez summarized what CADCB had accomplished since it started in 2002. “I’m really excited to see the amount of community involvement that exists,” she said. A team of 70 volunteers, including experts and residents, work on various committees in areas such as business and economic stability, outdoors and wellness, housing, development, transforming community image and a general CADCB steering committee.

The business and economic stability committee focuses on local businesses, to help them succeed, creating and maintaining jobs.

The outdoors and wellness committee is youth oriented, working to provide scholarships, youth activities such as dances, and SAT preparation. The housing committee works in partnership with the city and the Lehigh Valley Land Trust to provide emergency support for commercial and residential needs. Several blighted properties have been restored, Martinez said. “We’ve done a lot of work. It’s so nice to see the change.”

The development committee focuses on infrastructure and improvements, for example the greenway patio which opened in April. “It’s nice to see how many people are sitting and enjoying the patio every day,” Martinez said.

The transforming community image committee works on changing Southside’s reputation. “How do we change perception? How do we improve, to help businesses, help residents, and help the community?” Martinez asked.

Part of this challenge is to build the relationship between community and police. The ongoing dialog has been helpful, she said. “It’s been a really great year.”

The committees meet monthly and the steering committee every couple of months, Martinez said.

The planning aspect is very important, she said. “We want to be able to see what is coming to Southside.” She said the group is waiting for funding from the city Department of Community and Economic Development.

Projects for next year include promoting businesses and stressing healthy situations in the community and families. Next spring’s programs include marketing, health, planning, and the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants. “That’s what makes this project,” Martinez said.

For more information on CADCB go to www.cadcb.org or call 610-807-9337.