Community Priorities for Building Safer Neighborhoods

On August 29, 2022, New America CA (“NA CA”) hosted a two-hour community conversation. The goal was a “proximity project,” a conversation designed to grow relationships across community stakeholders (residents, policymakers, business owners, organizers), solicit new ideas and build consensus on measures to improve community safety. Attendees included five members of the NA CA research team, six residents (two English-speaking and four Spanish-speaking), one community-based leader, one school board member and two representatives from the Fresno DRIVE initiative. Attendees worked through activities to develop a shared definition of community safety, and priority action items and solutions.

First, the New America CA team presented a Hope Narrative graphic, stories of aspirations for the community collected during interviews with residents. After reading the topic-related Hope Narratives residents responded with insightful stories about the barriers they experience to feeling safe in their daily lives. Many expressed that the Hope Narratives were, in many ways, not yet true for their neighborhoods, and that there is still a lot of work to be done. They expressed a desire to see the same safety resources and systems found in other better-resourced Fresno communities—where help arrives when needed, and where there is better lighting and walkable roads.

After the opening exercise, we took a collective breath and short break, and then asked residents to share their definitions of “community safety.’ This laid the foundation for an ideation session about the resources, fixtures, policies, or programs residents believe will create a greater sense of safety. Participants asked questions and challenged and built off of each other’s ideas. They identified solutions with the greatest potential and resonance, and voted on the most promising. The exercise yielded a shortlist of concrete ideas for policy leaders to explore.

Priority solutions for improving feelings of safety included:

Walkable streets with traffic-slowing measures

Residents discussed the need for speed bumps and stop signs to help slow speeding cars. They requested high-visibility crosswalks, and crossing guards to help kids during school pick-up and drop-off. Many residents described the sidewalks, roads, and highways as old and in bad condition from wear over time and overgrown tree-roots.

Well-lit and clean outdoor spaces for recreation and gathering

Alleyways, parks, and general outdoor spaces in Jackson and Winchell might feel safer if there were more streetlights, residents suggested. Illegal dumping and trash accumulation also make it difficult for residents to enjoy these spaces, particularly when reported problems go without response. Barring authorities responding, residents rely on volunteers to clean up trash in the neighborhood. One resident suggested that a neighborhood association in Winchell could help residents organize and apply more resources to make the neighborhood more aesthetically pleasing. Residents also reported experiencing difficulties with stray dogs, including failure to remove pet-waste and experiences with aggressive behavior. Several residents suggested that they would feel safer with better animal control measures and enforcement.

Assurance that help will come when crime or conflict impacts physical and mental safety

Most of the resident participants either knew someone who had been a crime victim or had personal experience with crime in the neighborhood. Street vendors were highlighted as particularly vulnerable to robbery and theft—validated by two vendors attending the meeting. However, when residents reached out for help following criminal activity, they felt that local law enforcement did not follow through or respond as quickly or thoroughly as they would in wealthier neighborhoods.

Some residents also expressed feeling unsafe during interactions with people experiencing homelessness in the neighborhood. Residents shared that even when financial, mental, and physical health resources exist elsewhere in Fresno, the information doesn’t reach the people who need it most (including those without homes, whom residents identify as needing individualized support). Residents would like someone in the neighborhood to help people navigate and access assistance programs and safety services, particularly those that help prevent and protect against crime.

This community conversation was an important step in elevating policy ideas based on lived experience. It allowed for residents to drive a policy conversation rather than provide brief, public comment to elected leaders in a traditional venue. One of the goals of future conversations is to further engage decision-makers and elected officials to allow residents to see their ideas received and considered firsthand. If direct conversation proves difficult, then we recommend considering how ideas and feedback from participatory policy sessions can be effectively delivered to policymakers and, also, how to best return feedback and updates on resident-surfaced solutions to residents.