The fight is on to improve the neighborhood and deal with crime

By Chet Williamson

Paul Collyer has been in the neighborhood for 17 years. You want to know what's going on around Chandler Street — he's the guy to call. Collyer not only resides there and runs his business out of the area, he's one of the district's biggest fans — he even blogs about it. He is easily one of the area's most active citizens — just don't call him an activist.

"I hate to be called that," he says. "I'm just a guy who lives here and wants to be part of the neighborhood."

For Collyer, who has also lived in Somerville, Cambridge and Charlestown and has seen his share of gentrification, says Worcester's Chandler Street is ready for such big-city urban renewal and would, in fact, welcome it.

"I think that we have one of the best opportunities for gentrification," he says. "I know that is a scary word in this city, but there has to be some of it in this urban environment if it is going to change. I saw how Somerville went from a tough-scrapple city; people used to call it "Slumerville." These towns can change, but a lot of it has to do with the behavior of the people living in them."

New storefronts on Chandler Street.

While Collyer raves about the good stuff, he pulls no punches when talking about the bad on the street. His controversial comments, featuring an array of topics from race and politics to crime, can be found at: www.pauliespointofview.blogspot.com/

What the neighborhood also has going for it and the thing that has kept it from becoming an attractive place to live is one of the highest crime rates in the city.

"The reason people aren't moving into the urban core is because they don't feel safe," Collyer says. "They don't like the grime and crime. Until we correct that we are not going to change. There are a lot of other urban communities out there that get it. This city has been reluctant to deal with it."

Collyer is a member of the Chandler Street Business Association (CSBA). In an attempt to "deal with it," the group has been meeting on a regular basis and crime is at the top of their agenda.

At the group's last meeting in May, City Councilor Barbara Haller was in attendance to discuss what Collyer called "a current state of violence in the area, including at some area businesses."

Haller walked away from the meeting saying she would be calling Chief Gary Gemme of the Worcester Police Department, asking him to attend the next meeting. Collyer says, "We hope to have a Q&A with the chief and to also find out what we can do to assist. The issue of having security cameras in certain hotspots will be discussed."

The Chandler Street corridor between Park Avenue and Main Street has been declared a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area (NRSA) and, as Haller points out, federal money has passed through the city to be used for such corridors to stimulate economic development.

"In the case of the Chandler Street Business Association, Worcester Common Ground is the fiscal agent for the effort," Haller says. "They've done things like tree plantings and getting the street swept more often and they've worked on side improvements. Go by Suney's Pub and see their new façade. That was part of the NRSA effort."

NRSA is a program funded by the city of Worcester designed to provide business owners or homeowners within a specific target area with access to funds for façade and home improvements. Haller says that there is some flexibility within each corridor as to how that money gets used.

"One of the ideas that they would like to explore is security cameras in strategic locations along that corridor that would be accessible by the police," Haller says. "At what level can NRSA money be used to help support the effort? I don't know. At this point we are exploring it. If CSBA can use it as a pilot as part of their NRSA status in the city, then I say, ‘Hooray.' It gives it a status that would be helpful."

Laurel Ciprari is vice president of the Park Avenue branch of TDBanknorth. She is also the president of the CSBA.

"Our question is, can some [of the NRSA] grant money be used for surveillance cameras?" she asks. "We were told we could use it, but the fact is, who is going to monitor it?

"We know it works when they move the cameras around the city for illegal trash dumping. It did have an impact. So now we have to see if it is going to work for us. That's our big question."

The next CSBA meeting is at 9 a.m., June 11, at the Sano Café, located inside The Living Earth at 232 Chandler St. o