PHOENIX — Residents who live near 24th Street and Broadway will have another chance Thursday to weigh-in on the development they want to see brought to the area.
The intersection has a neighborhood resource center on the southeast corner, but the other three corners remain vacant. President of the Broadway Heritage Neighborhood Association, Thomas Claiborn, says the community is a food desert with limited access to affordable and nutritious food. He explained the community's rich history and the challenges people living there have faced.
In the 1930's, it was a community for Black and Hispanic families who were victims of a discriminatory and racist practice known as redlining, preventing them from living in other certain parts of the Valley. Later, some buildings including the community grocery store were torn down.
"This community and city doesn't look like this on accident," Claiborn told ABC15. "There needs to be just as much intentionality and upgraded imagination to solutions for it."
Claiborn says neighbors want to see more affordable, healthy places to eat and affordable housing options. He would like to see additional resources to help families living there thrive.
"It's less about the buildings, but there's also the programming and the new educative programming that can be attached to it," he said. "There's a lot of programs already going on, but a lot of the resources don't funnel this way."
Claiborn says the city needs to be strategic about who they hire to develop the land, keeping the needs of the community in mind.
He surveyed hundreds in the community and will present his findings at Thursday's meeting held at the Broadway Heritage Neighborhood Resource Center at 6 p.m.
The meeting will be led by Councilmember Carlos Garcia, who represents District 8, and neighbors are welcome to attend and provide input.
