Tallahassee’s Community Redevelopment Agency has given the greenlight to a multi-faceted plan to improve the Bond neighborhood. That will be made possible by a $6.4 million investment over three years.
It’s called the Greater Bond Neighborhood First Plan – an aggregation of projects that over the next three years aims to beautify, streamline land use and increase safety in the Southside community.
An initial $500,000 investment to be made up front will come from the CRA’s fiscal year 2018 fund and 2019 Affordable Housing Project fund.
Talethia Edwards, president of the Bond Neighborhood Association, addressed the CRA during its meeting Thursday.
“This conversation is not just about infrastructure and building up – it’s about equity,” Edwards said. “Tallahassee is a city divided, where we know one side of the city has something the other side hasn’t. Bond is a community that has never been invested in by the CRA.”
But that has changed, with Commissioners voting unanimously for the plan. Mayor John Dailey says the project is an investment in human capital as well as infrastructure.
“This is a new day at the CRA, and there is going to be a new focus, a new direction. It is truly time – and we have all been saying this along with Commissioner Richardson – it is time to invest in our neighborhoods,” Dailey said.
Jackie Perkins, a Bond resident, says the project will make Bond more attractive to new residents.
“We want people to come and live in Bond, and be happy, and feel proud to be in that neighborhood,” Perkins said.
