Bringing it together

Well I have finished the paper. My conclusions in working with the applications, the news accounts of the time and just a simple look at the recent state affairs put together a decent glimpse at the history of urban planning (or lack thereof) in Irvington. this was not, in the end, a depressing work - I am confident that current structured planning and business revamping will take hold if we continue, as the larger community, to listen to the people that live in our urban centers and put planning in the hands of people that are capable of doing so.
In the end the documents showed that there was no clear plan other than to skirt East Ward needs and community input as required under the grants. The grants did serve to improve infrastructure in the largely white areas of the North Ward and rehabilitate areas like slated for use by the elderly and disabled. However by the time a full transition occurred in both population and elected officials, there had been years of neglect in the neediest of areas. Past 1983 the Irvington leadership did not seem to improve with use of the grant money and funding at the federal level was significantly cut - there was no saving grace from elected black politicans as many might expect. It would be pure conjecture to say that better, focused use of these funds would have created a success; however what cannot be denied is the complete abandonment in the years to follow on a local, federal and state level until the problems reached a boiling point. It is not until recently, with Mayor Wayne Smith that Irvington is coming out into itself and owning the problems of Camptown...