Community Engagement Campaign

Bluestem Interactive staff developed and managed a community engagement campaign designed to promote and preserve older neighborhoods in Lincoln, Nebraska. This engagement campaign was called the Heart of Lincoln.

History

The project began in 1997, when the City of Lincoln posted an RFP to hire a consultant to direct the project. At that time, project activities and target area were not yet identified. The general goal was to promote homeownership in the city’s core neighborhoods because the homeownership rates in these areas were sharply declining.

Ten neighborhoods were chosen to be part of the initial project area. Selections were based on the percent of low-moderate income residents in the neighborhood, the neighborhood’s proximity to Downtown (the heart of the city), and the neighborhood association’s enthusiasm for the project. Realtors, neighborhood association members and city residents living or doing business in the Heart of Lincoln were surveyed to assess their perceptions about the core neighborhoods and the kind of work that needed to be done. Findings:

1. Perceptions of the neighborhoods were much more negative among those people who lived outside of the neighborhoods than those who lived within them.
2. Many neighborhood residents chose to live in the core neighborhoods because they valued the historic homes and environs located there but felt they often needed to explain to friends and family living outside the area why they chose to live “in that part of town.”
3. Realtors expressed the need for programs to promote property improvement, saying that one bad house could “ruin” the image of the whole street.
4. Among the 750 or so licensed real estate professionals in the city, many had little or no knowledge of the Heart of Lincoln neighborhoods because they had only sporadic listings there and lived in other parts of town.

As a result, a series of activities was undertaken.

• A home tour was conducted that showcased eight well-maintained homes in the area. The tour was designed to bring non-residents into the neighborhoods to see the area was “better than they thought” and to spur a “domino” effect among neighbors who could see the effect of property investment in homes much like their own. More than 4,000 visitors participated in the tour.
  (Video: Home Tours)
• Marketing materials were designed to brand the Heart of Lincoln as a historic area of classic homes. A logo, a door poster, and a full-color, professionally-designed large format brochure highlighting the “Top Ten Reasons” to live in the Heart of Lincoln were developed and distributed to Realtors and neighborhood residents.
  (Poster: Heart of Lincoln Doors)
  (Brochure Cover: Home is Where the Heart Is)
• Fact sheets about each of the neighborhoods were created for use by Realtors listing homes for sale. Realtors were encouraged to use the fact sheets and the Top Ten list as sales tools and distribute them at open houses.
• A three-credit continuing education class was developed for Realtors to acquaint them with area infrastructure improvements, the historic districts in the neighborhoods, and the goals and activities of the project.
  (Video: Acquainting Realtors)

Project Funding

Although Lincoln’s Urban Development Department was the sole project funder for the first two years, as community support grew, funding began to be shared by both the public and private sectors. By the project’s third year, the local community development organization, now called NeighborWorks^® Lincoln, accepted fiscal sponsorship of the Heart of Lincoln project. From that point on, local foundations, real estate companies, banks, and the REALTORS^® Association of Lincoln stepped up to shoulder some of the project costs. (Annual budgets ranged from $40,000–$22,000 during the project’s nine-year lifespan.)

Project Growth

As the years passed and the project gained momentum and community support, its scope expanded to encompass broader community revitalization goals.
(Video: Gaining Confidence)

The purpose grew to three aims:

• Promote responsible homeownership
• Build neighborhood pride
• Encourage property improvement

Two additional neighborhoods were added to the list of Heart of Lincoln neighborhoods, and project activities broadened as well.

Along with the popular Realtor continuing education classes and the annual home tour which continued to draw large crowds, other interactive programs were established to involve more stakeholders. These include:

• A website
• A Star Rental Program recognizes and rewards responsible rental property owners while educating the community about good stewardship.
  (Video: Star Rental Program)
• A Welcome Packet Program helps acquaint new property owners with the neighborhood. Over 100 new homebuyers receive packets each year.
• My Special Neighborhood, a set of learning activities designed to help neighborhood youth value where they live, focuses on people, places, history, and community improvement. The lessons are used in five Lincoln Public School’s Community Learning Centers.
• Home Improvement Classes on topics like how to fix your porch, solve foundation problems, and paint exteriors help property owners learn more about maintenance and motivates them to make improvements.

Outcomes

When the Heart of Lincoln project began in 1997, the city’s central core neighborhoods had little public or political support. Density had been increased through years of rezoning and overbuilt multiplexes. Rental rates hovered close to 86% in some areas. Crime had escalated in some neighborhoods, and several well-publicized stories of potential “gang” activities had contributed to a widely held public perception that the area was on a downward spiral and could not be saved. Retail merchants had moved out of the downtown, leaving some large buildings nearly empty. The surrounding neighborhoods were often the focus for street widening projects. Down-zoning, an important revitalization tool, was considered to be untenable in the existing political environment.

Today, neighborhood associations in the area have spawned active and increasingly successful leadership that has taken up the cause of historic preservation and neighborhood revitalization. When politicians and city leaders talk about the city, their words convey an appreciation for the Heart of Lincoln and its“central historic neighborhoods” More importantly, their actions reflect a commitment to protecting and preserving those neighborhoods. Road widening projects to cut through central neighborhoods resulting in the loss of single-family homes consistently meet strong opposition. Historic homes are often now moved, instead of bulldozed. Within the past two years, several Heart of Lincoln neighborhoods have had key areas down-zoned to preclude continued multiplex development, and several new design standards have been adopted in recent years to protect the integrity of the historic neighborhoods. A major revitalization project designed to reduce flood plain danger, improve transportation and further revitalize Heart of Lincoln neighborhoods is underway, bolstered by federal, state and local funds. And homeownership rates have stabilized or risen throughout the Heart of Lincoln.

While many factors have contributed to these revitalization successes, many stakeholders throughout the city believe that the Heart of Lincoln project played an important role.
(Video: Success)