Community Revitalization Plans and Implementation Programs

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

Kern County Community Revitalization Program combines a visioning process with a new county funding program (Economic Opportunity Areas and RENEWBIZ) to energize and support grassroots efforts of unincorporated communities to restore depressed business areas. Combined with a focused blight reduction component, the program has attracted investment and real improvements of over $4 million in the communities of Oildale, East Bakersfield, Rosamond, Mojave, Boron and soon, Olde Town Tehachapi. While all of these areas have strong community engagement and grassroot business organizations, overall these business districts were once strong and thriving, but now struggle as a result of aging building facades, unimproved streetscapes and lack of a focused vision. The County program provides the seed money for a focused visioning process that is tailored to each community to develop a visual road map and unique identity. Working with the community stakeholders, the County provides grants for exterior business improvements within the new neighborhood identity theme and provides leadership for attracting grant money and use of Community Development Block Grant Funding (CDBG) in certain eligible communities for streetscapes. To provide additional funding, the County established Economic Opportunity Areas that map a specific area and allocate through the Board of Supervisors budget process a specific dollar amount of the increment growth of business in the area. In the desert areas, where renewable energy of wind and solar photovoltaic have taken up many thousands acres of land, the Board established the Renewable Energy Neighborhood Enhancement Wind Business Investment Zone, (RENEWBIZ) that allocates up to $1.5 million in incremental growth over 30 years to revitalize specific business areas. This program begins with county seed money, but continues with the matching work efforts of the business owners and community leaders to change the built environment, clean up the community and attract new business and tourism.