The Mountain View Community Council is putting the finishing touches on their neighborhood plan. It’s a targeted vision for making the city’s most diverse neighborhood a place people want to stay for the long-term.
Mountain View residents who attended Saturday’s Street Fair know what they want for their neighborhood.
“More police presence. Definitely,” says Noreen McKnight. “A lot of young kids hanging out late at night, making a lot of noise. Actually, last night there were gun shots in my neighborhood. And just more of a police presence, not harassing, just patrolling making the community aware that they are there.”
People should “stop littering,” says Sierra Ekon. “Because people would want to live in Mountain View more and wouldn’t think it’s a dangerous place.”
“More playgrounds for the kids,” requests Samantha Moua. “Because we live in a trailer, and there’s no playground except for a basketball hoop.”
All of those ideas and more have been incorporated into the Mountain View Targeted Neighborhood Plan. The plan was three years in the making and included input from focus groups and a community-wide, weekend-long event. It lays out goals like better lighting on Mountain View Drive, proactive policing, and building a local health clinic.
“There’s a need for services in Mountain View,” says Mountain View Community Council President Daniel George. For example, “the nearest place to drop off a letter at a post office is to go all the way across the highway to the post office in Russian Jack. We don’t have a postal drop box anywhere in Mountain View that I’ve been able to locate.”
George says parts of the plan are already being enacted. The Downtown Partnership will be picking up trash, cleaning graffiti and doing safety patrols in the community for the rest of the summer. Cook Inlet Housing is developing more high quality housing units.
“It’s a neighborhood that people move to or from. We want to make it a neighborhood of choice,” George says.
The plan is posted on the Mountain View Community Council website and will need to be approved by the Anchorage Assembly to become official. The council is still seeking more input. Projects will be funded by non-profits, community organizations, and the municipality.
Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska. Reach her atahillman@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Annehere.
