News & Updates

Jamestown’s 2015 Renaissance Block Finalists Announced

Jamestown’s 2015 Renaissance Block Finalists Announced

Landscaping, porch repairs, painting, sidewalk replacement, and many other projects will soon be underway in the city as part of the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation’s annual Renaissance Block Challenge. The program gives property owners access to matching grants and...

A Rising Tide of Local Leadership

A Rising Tide of Local Leadership

If you call someone in Jamestown a politician, you’re likely to see them recoil in disgust or ball up their fists as if an epithet has been hurled in their direction. But we’re all politicians. We all try to influence those around us in ways that will achieve civic or...

Civic Perceptions Driven by Engagement

Civic Perceptions Driven by Engagement

What is Jamestown in 2015? Are we the comedy capital or the meth capital? Are we a city of reenergized neighborhoods or a city on the edge? Are we a haven of opportunity or a place with limited prospects? How we perceive Jamestown – and how others perceive us – is...

Housing Market Traps Fuel Dysfunction

Housing Market Traps Fuel Dysfunction

What happens when a weak real estate market and under-regulated rental housing collide on the streets of Jamestown? People get trapped. Consider the recent case of a 71-year-old woman on Bush Street profiled by The Post-Journal. Her apartment was without hot water or...

State Could Play Bigger Revitalization Role in 2015

State Could Play Bigger Revitalization Role in 2015

The budget season is well underway in Albany as the Legislature deliberates over Governor Cuomo’s spending plan and the state’s projected $5 billion surplus. There’s much to be hopeful about as this process nears completion and as Western New York gains influence in...

Shaping Jamestown’s Future through Zoning Reform

Shaping Jamestown’s Future through Zoning Reform

  Huge shadows cast by a growing forest of skyscrapers. Overcrowded tenements next to smoke-belching factories. Garment sweatshops encroaching on the mansions of millionaires. These and other pressures led to the adoption of America’s first citywide zoning...

New Incentive Would Give Development a Boost

New Incentive Would Give Development a Boost

Renovating an old building isn’t easy. Outdated electrical systems, inefficient windows, an attic full of pigeon droppings – these and many other problems are expensive barriers to the revitalization of buildings in our cities and villages. This is why starting from...

Action Needed to Improve Rental Housing

Action Needed to Improve Rental Housing

Jamestown’s responsible landlords are suffering at the hands of irresponsible landlords. And so is every neighbor. And every taxpayer. From chronic blight to daily nuisances, the ill effects of under-regulated rental housing have been apparent for a while, but they’re...

New Year’s Resolutions for Jamestown

New Year’s Resolutions for Jamestown

There are many reasons to feel positive about Jamestown’s prospects in the coming year – and just as many reasons to hope for speedier progress on numerous fronts. It’s the mood you’ll find in almost any city as the end of a year approaches and people take stock of...

Neighborhoods Rise to the Challenge

Neighborhoods Rise to the Challenge

When the Lakeview Avenue Community Action Project has its holiday party later this month, it will mark the end of a busy year in that neighborhood and the six other neighborhoods that participated in the 2014 Renaissance Block Challenge. It was a busy year in two...