Tucked away between the office buildings and parking lots of Wilmington’s business district, I-95, and the Amtrak rail line, West Center City is a diverse community with a rich history, intimate neighborhood fabric, and two historic districts: Quaker Hill Historic District and Trinity Vicinity. Despite these assets, like most urban neighborhoods in the latter half of the 20th century, West Center City suffered population loss that was compounded by the construction of I-95 through neighborhoods and civic unrest in the 1960s. As a result, vacancy, blight, lack of sufficient services, unemployment, loitering, and crime have emerged as prominent concerns for the neighborhood.
To face these challenges head-on, Interfaith Community Housing of Delaware has undertaken an initiative to forge a strategic plan for the future of this neighborhood. The community-based organization hired Interface Studio, with Lamar Wilson Associates providing community facilitation as subconsultants, to engage the community in a grassroots visioning process beginning in the summer of 2009. West Center City has a great story to tell, and Interface Studio is looking forward to playing a roll in the community’s opportunity to let its voices be heard.
