Several core concepts or goals drive the planning for the North East Central Durham neighborhood revitalization.  These goals have been developed by TCB and DHA in consultation with the community. They are: A Neighborhood of Choice.   We seek to build a strong and healthy neighborhood where people will choose to live even if they have other options.  A neighborhood of choice must offer high quality housing affordable to people at all income levels, with a mix of rental and home ownership opportunities.  The housing should reflect the best of historic Durham, while providing for contemporary conveniences and amenities.  A neighborhood of choice should also offer a range of services to meet the residents’ diverse lifestyles. A Pedestrian Neighborhood.  While cars and convenient streets are important, a good neighborhood should be comfortable for pedestrians - for people walking to shops, work or transit, for senior citizens and for children at play.  A pedestrian neighborhood needs open space and recreation facilities that people want to enjoy and comfortable routes to get to them. A Safe and Secure Neighborhood.  Safety and security are major concerns for every family and design can promote safe streets by calming traffic, making larger streets easy to cross, designing homes with 'eyes on the street' to monitor the public spaces and designing a landscape and lighting to eliminate insecure places.   A Connected Neighborhood.  North East Central Durham is well located, but its location doesn’t serve its residents unless people can easily and comfortably get to jobs, shops, services and transportation.  The major streets (Alston and Main) need to connect the neighborhood to its surroundings rather than isolate or divide the neighborhood.  The neighborhood also needs to be connected to the neighborhoods around it, with gradual transitions in use and with a density and scale appropriate to its surroundings. DHA and TCB have conducted a planning process designed to maximize the community’s participation in the development of the revitalization plan.  A series of public master planning workshops and design charrettes were held in August and September 2001 to develop a draft revitalization plan that was presented for comments in October 2001.  Additional input from the October presentation contributed to the refinement and development of the recommended revitalization plan presented in November 2001.  The workshops and meetings involved presentation of goals and concepts, small group discussions, participatory design sessions, and open microphone comments.   The Revitalization Plan provides a framework for the revitalization effort, but the planning and the community participation in the process is ongoing.  As each area within the neighborhood becomes the focus of development activities, DHA and TCB will hold additional meetings with the community to refine or modify the ideas and plan for implementation of the revitalization. For more details on the Revitalization Plan click here.