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West Anniston Master Plan – It’s About Time!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

When it comes to economic revitalization of the City of Anniston, there are three aspects that must take priority. These are the historic downtown/central business district, the old Fort McClellan, which is now more conveniently just called McClellan, and West Anniston. Downtown Anniston which is often referred to as Historic Downtown Anniston, is the symbolic and business hub of our city – despite the importance of tree-lined Quintard Avenue and the Lenlock and Gold Springs commercial areas. McClellan is so plentiful in potential, to ignore its economic value would be the height of folly. On the other hand, West Anniston is not typically seen as a critical economic priority although it is very symbolic to 51% of the city’s population as it was once the primary home of the African-Americans. Therefore, one of our economic priorities is out of rational symbolism, one involves tremendous potential, and the other is purely out of both political correctness and economic necessity. Our concern is whether commissioning this new plan is out of political expediency or economic rationality. We hope that it is the latter.

West Anniston, which many loyal community members affectionately consider to have once been a “city within a city” is much more than the symbolic home of the cities Black residents. Especially when considering the much more rapid decline of the area as compared to the rest of the city – which has also declined steadily over the past 30 years – West Anniston currently has a poverty rate that is estimated at being over 48 percent. Considering that over 50% of the citizens of Calhoun County receive some type of federal transfer payments (i.e. welfare, social security, etc) – all the while complaining about federal deficits and the need to get the federal government out of our lives – it is very reasonable to assume that most likely West Anniston’s residents transfer payment rate is over 95%. As the typical transfer payment recipient does contributes taxes – although they do pay more than their share of regressive sales taxes – the area consumes far more in social services, public works, and social services than residents in other parts of the city or in the rest of the county. It stands to reason that if the residents of West Anniston had the opportunity to contribute, they could do so much to shift the balance from public funds consumers to contributors. There are many good people in the community who would like to see this happen.

As land, labor, and capital are the three legs of the economic-development stool, the future of this community must adequately address each. The West Anniston Master Plan pretty much addresses each one. It recognizes the value of underutilized land, a dormant or disenchanted low-skilled and lower educated workforce, and numerous unused industrial and commercial buildings and underdeveloped areas, such as West 15th Street and Clydesdale Avenue. The plan effectively addresses the opportunities that are available while simultaneously mentioning numerous quality-of-life issues to include the advent of community gardens throughout the neighborhood.

The Plan is a long-term one that will take considerable emphasis and diligence if it is to become a reality. While we support this endeavor, we see more than a few shortcomings. First, like much of the One City/One Vision plan, it primarily focuses on the hope that we will continue to attract poverty and minority community development grants. While there is no reason to assume that such grants will not continue to be forthcoming, the city – and its numerous non-profits – have received millions of dollars of such grants over the years while failing to stem economic decline or reduce the growing poverty rates in West Anniston. We have trust that our mayor, city council, and city manager will reverse that trend. Secondly, too little emphasis is placed on the necessity to activate the citizenry. Throughout the city, over the past few decades most of our citizens have chosen to either depart or passively sit on the sidelines while steady decline occurred. In West Anniston, this is more so the case. Even though they have several strong, caring community leaders, the prevailing feeling in the area is that they expect “somebody to do something” to help them while having a simultaneous resentment as what is increasingly being seen as unresponsive public works and insensitive law enforcement both at the city and county levels. As one former city leader said only last night, many of his neighbors – and especially the youth – are numb and bitter. Therefore, while addressing this trust issue is vital, there also needs to be a Community Leadership Initiative, designed to develop a cadre of positive activism rather than relying on confrontation as the chief change strategy.

Lastly, the mantra that we are constantly hearing in West Anniston is the need for jobs. On the other hand, city leaders – to include the numerous politicians who are presently making stump speeches – claim that improved education and training is the answer to our current high unemployment in the city – and especially in the West Anniston area. While that may make a lot of sense when it comes to eventually improving per capita income, this does not address the immediate need that so many West Annistonians face each and every day. Simply, more textbooks and classrooms do not feed families today. Therefore, there needs to be a job development program that addresses the need to provide immediate employment at the prevailing skill levels. This is not an original idea. Atlanta Council Member Kwanza Hall, who serves the people of the highly diverse District 2, which is also Georgia’s most poverty ridden political jurisdiction, simultaneously focused on long-term development while addressing the need for immediate jobs at the current level of education and training for the bulk of his unemployed constituents. We can do likewise here in Anniston – and especially in West Anniston.

The West Anniston Master Plan is an excellent start – provided that we don’t merely allow it to collect dust. However, there is not complete confidence that our city’s leaders are always moving in the right direction. Their strategy of contracting with out-of-town consultants, relying on grant dollars, and the hiring top-gun administrative talent while being a very big move in a positive direction, this approach does little to capitalize on, develop, or energizes the resources that we presently have. The presumption appears that we are not smart enough or innovative enough to solve our problems without outside help. Of course, that is the approach that many other recovering cities have used. However, this is not always the case. The city leaders of Paducah, Kentucky successfully made significant changes while relying mostly on internal assets. They dramatically changed their attitude and energized their community. Perhaps combining the prevailing approaches of hiring those “who have a briefcase and live over 50 miles away” and hoping that some governmental entity will see us worthy of yet another grant with a local attitude change and homegrown empowerment will take us even further. Nevertheless, what ever we do, we must also consider the importance of a prosperous West Anniston.

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Keywords: West Anniston, West Anniston Master Plan, economic development, Anniston, Alabama

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