Some are aghast at the perceived ill-fitting development in their neighborhood. Some are uniting to keep an eye on crime. Others just want to get to know their neighbors, returning to a way of life where people looked out for each other.
For any number of reasons, several downtown Grand Junction neighborhood associations have been revived or formed in the past few months. The trend is a welcome shift in community involvement and can give residents more say in their city's future, said Kristen Ashbeck, a senior planner in the city's Community Development department.
"I think it's a mix of people wanting to know each other a little bit and development concerns," she said of the new associations. "It's a good way for them as a neighborhood to work with the city."
The two newest neighborhood associations include residents in 110 homes in the area of Lincoln Park and residents of about 670 homes around Emerson Park. They add to 32 registered neighborhood associations already operating in Grand Junction.
Elizabeth Rowan, head of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association, said the group was formed among neighbors who want to preserve the area with its 1920s bungalow-style homes. Outside of that, neighbors can take the group in any number of directions.
Neighbors in the 1300 block of Ouray Avenue typically host yearly, summer potlucks. A neighborhood association may give neighbors further reason to unite and help each other out.
"To me, it just behooves you to get to know your neighbors," Rowan said. "We've talked about helping older people with shoveling, if we get any snow. We're looking for teenagers, trying to identify if we can pay somebody to rake leaves."
Rowan said people weren't quite sure at first what to think of a neighborhood association.
"The first question people ask is if this is like an HOA (homeowners' association)," she said. "There are no dues and there are no rules as a group."
Colin and Carrie St. Clair moved to Grand Junction about two years ago and were surprised their area wasn't included in a neighborhood association. The couple loved the friendships they forged and the problems they helped solve after getting involved in an association in their tough neighborhood in Washington, D.C. They decided to create an association here, which includes a wide swath of homes from roughly Grand Avenue to Pitkin Avenue and Eighth Street to 19th Street.
"We just want to be proactively involved," Colin said. "We're hoping to at least give ourselves a voice."
One of the benefits of being involved in a neighborhood association is that residents receive advance notice from the city about development plans. Neighbors within 500 feet of proposed developments are always notified by the city. But residents' homes included in neighborhood associations receive notification of development that is occurring within 1,000 feet of an association's boundaries.
Grand Junction historically has offered grant funds for neighborhood associations to work on projects, including a $5,000 grant to add irrigation between a sidewalk and the park for neighbors in the Hawthorne Park Neighborhood Association. The city formerly offered up to $250 for neighborhoods to host block parties, but the money has gone away.
Forming a neighborhood association requires a volunteer to act as a contact person and host some kind of meeting, inviting all those in the association's boundaries to attend, Ashbeck said. The city helps residents compile mailing lists.
About 40 people showed for an Emerson Park Neighborhood Association meeting at KAFM's Radio Room on a recent weekend night. Attendees said they were interested in stopping development from occurring in nearby neighborhoods, like multi-housing units under construction at both 10th Street and Grand Avenue and 12th Street and Main Street.
Rainy Reaman, who lives in the 1300 block of Main Street, showed up because she wanted to get to know neighbors better and is interested in increasing the sense of community in her neighborhood.
"Stuff like this is going to decrease crime," she said.
Retirees Karen and John Sinclair recently opted to revive the Washington Park Neighborhood Association, an area around the park near 10th Street and Gunnison Avenue.
The couple, who live in the 10th block of Ouray Avenue, enjoy their home built in 1919, and said they want to preserve the area's historical homes in general. They also just like having a reason to throw parties.
"You hate to see the digger where they tore down the historic church," Karen Sinclair said, referring to construction of The Lofts multi-housing project, which is under construction on 10th Street and Grand Avenue.
"Just the idea of neighborhoods, big old trees, the great diversity with the elderly and neighborhood schools," she said. "We are interested in preserving a lifestyle. We feel these old neighborhoods need to have a voice right now."
An initial meeting of neighbors gathered about 35 people, the Sinclairs said.
Ideas for events so far have included an ice cream social, a rummage sale and maybe an alley clean-up event.
"I just want to make people feel a part of the community and feel safe," Karen Sinclair said. "It doesn't have to be controversy all the time. We want it to be positive."
