{"id":245590,"date":"2012-11-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-23T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/bridging-residents-and-businesses\/"},"modified":"2012-11-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-23T08:00:00","slug":"bridging-residents-and-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/bridging-residents-and-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridging residents and businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Park Community Association serves as voice to educate, inform and empower<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por David Schwab | Reportero SDUN\"Bridging<\/strong><\/p>\n

Removing graffiti, promoting summer concerts, providing eyes and ears for police, keeping residents informed, and working with other local groups to eradicate neighborhood blight are just a few of the things the North Park Community Association (NPCA) does for North Park on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

First and foremost, however, the group is for residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re an organization that started back in 1984 to give residents a voice,\u201d said Nikki Berdy, NPCA board president. \u201cThe businesses have always fallen under a certain umbrella with the [Business Improvement Districts], but there really was nothing for the residents. That\u2019s how it got started.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nonprofit is a member-based organization, with annual memberships beginning at $15. They are overseen by a volunteer board, and Berdy said they have only begun to tap the potential in North Park with about one percent of the community\u2019s population being NPCA members.<\/p>\n

Other community groups \u2013 most notably North Park\u2019s community advisory council to the city and the North Park Historical Society \u2013 started out as NCPA committees and branched off to take on a life of their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt [NPCA] was the basis of a lot of what goes on in North Park,\u201d Berdy said.<\/p>\n

Berdy, other NCPA members and local residents met recently at one of the group\u2019s regularly scheduled social mixers. The November event was held at Queen Bee\u2019s Art & Cultural Center, located at 3925 Ohio St.<\/p>\n

NPCA board member Edwin Lohr, who attended the mixer, talked about the group\u2019s significance, saying they complimented what North Park Main Street does for businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re an organization that\u2019s for the people of the North Park area,\u201d Lohr said. \u201cWe do mixers. We do community clean ups. We do graffiti abatement. We now have our own neighborhood patrol. We\u2019re a great source of community information and a valuable resource for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lohr said one of the most important aspects about the group was that they are working to make a difference in the community. \u201cWe listen,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re a good sounding board.\u201d<\/p>\n

NPCA\u2019s mission is to create a voice to educate, inform and empower North Park residents. The group works with local businesses and other area organizations to address community concerns, such as safety and land use. It also promotes cultural activities and strives to polish the community\u2019s image, while working for commercial revitalization and to improve public facilities and services.<\/p>\n

Berdy said she has seen tremendous change in the eight years she has lived in North Park, with a business and cultural renaissance that has transformed the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a destination spot,\u201d she said, adding that residents and businesses have adapted in order to coexist. \u201cWith night life growth, a lot of the businesses smack right up into residential areas. If you go down 30th Street, there are bars right next to houses.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help neighbors and businesses coexist, the NPCA is working to encourage diversity in North Park as the business district grows.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to see more shops, \u2026 boutiques and little family friendly stores, not just bars and restaurants, although we benefit from that too,\u201d Berdy said.<\/p>\n

To help curb noise, graffiti and crime, the community group is organizing a neighborhood patrol organization, stemming from the Stonewall Citizen\u2019s Patrol in Hillcrest. Lohr has been intricately involved with the Hillcrest group, and has been instrumental in establishing similar patrols in North Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started a North Park Citizen\u2019s Patrol as a division of Stonewall,\u201d he said. \u201cWe really want to kick it into high gear. We\u2019re getting going signing up block captains in charge of the North Park division of Stonewall. We now have our neighborhood patrol.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berdy said the Citizen\u2019s Patrol is one way the NPCA is more \u201chands on\u201d in the community, serving as additional \u201ceyes and ears\u201d for local San Diego police, and is just one of many projects for the NPCA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do graffiti removal, the Citizen\u2019s Patrol [and] a biweekly newsletter to keep everyone informed,\u201d Berdy said. \u201cWe have a very active website. We work with businesses. \u2026 We\u2019re all working hard together to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lohr said perhaps the most visible public service NPCA provides is the Bird Park summer concert series it has hosted for the past decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our biggest projects is the concerts,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest financial burden for us, but that\u2019s what puts us on the map.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spanning several months in the summer, the concerts, which Lohr said many people believe are paid for by the city, are funded by the NPCA. \u201cIt\u2019s our biggest asset to the community. The concerts affect the most people,\u201d Lohr said.<\/p>\n

Moving forward, the nonprofit\u2019s goal is to promote community awareness and participation in their ongoing neighborhood improvement projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need support [and] we need members,\u201d Berdy said. \u201cPhysically, we can\u2019t do the projects without people joining in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NPCA meets the fourth Wednesday of each month at the Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., from 6 to 8 p.m. For membership information, visit northparksd.org or email Berdy at nberdy@northparksd.org.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Park Community Association serves as voice to educate, inform and empower By Dave Schwab | SDUN Reporter Removing graffiti, promoting summer concerts, providing eyes and ears for police, keeping residents informed, and working with other local groups to eradicate neighborhood blight are just a few of the things the North Park Community Association (NPCA) […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Bridging residents and businesses","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}