Community Analysis

Lindsay Britcher
DY5085
4/14/15
Wayne State University
SW4020

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Part 1
Community Description
When I was growing up Lincoln Park was not the best city in the world but it was better
than it is now. Lincoln Park had a public community center with a pool, maintained public parks,
the roads were in better condition, and the street lights worked. The community center was sold
to a private owner in the late 2000s which is when the community pool was closed due to lack
of funding. There is still an ice arena in the community center where classes are taught and the
Lincoln Park High School hockey team plays. There was an issue with crime when I was
younger and I recall my fathers Mustang being stolen from our street while it was sitting under a
streetlight. From 2000 to 2010 the crime rate of Lincoln Park has gone down. In 2010 the crime
rate was 396 and in 2000 it was 435 and the United States average is 301. Another memory I
have from when I was young is there were a lot of elder people living in my neighborhood. Now,
most of Lincoln Park is younger people and not as many retired individuals. The population of
Lincoln Park has also changed since I was younger. In 2000 the population was 40,008 with 93%
Caucasian, 2.1% African American, .5% Asian, and 6.4% Hispanic. In the Census of 2010 the
population had dropped to 38,144 with 84.2% Caucasian, 5.9% African American, .7% Asian,
and 14.9% Hispanic.
When I graduated high school in 2008 I noticed there were more diverse populations
starting their freshman year with a great increase in the Hispanic population. At this time, the
high school had to hire more Spanish speaking staff and teachers to assist with the large influx in
the Hispanic population. Another issue I have noticed is more teenagers dropping out of high
school. In 2003 the Lincoln Park High School graduation rate was 82% and in the year of 2010 it
had dropped down it 74.91%. This is fairly large drop in the graduation rate with an 8.12%

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dropout rate. When I was in high school, Lincoln Park also had an alternative school that was
fairly new. Unfortunately, the school was only open for about 4 years due to lack of funding.
This school was helping many teenagers from all over downriver to assist them in graduating
high school and with teaching them real world trades for after graduation. In the city of Lincoln
Park only 41.7% of the population has a high school diploma or equivalent, 5% have a bachelors
degree, and only 1.9% have a graduate degree or higher. This was an interesting number to me
because I know many of my neighbors when I was growing up worked in the factories and for
the automotive company. Most of these people retired from their with a decent pension and were
living off this pension and social security. This does not happen like this anymore since you need
at lease a high school diploma to get just about any job, even fast food or retail. As a social
worker, you would need to understand that the generations growing up in this city are being
raised by people whom used to work in the factories but may no longer be working. This is a low
class, poverty community with the average household income at $40,589 in 2013 leaving 18% of
this population below the poverty level. The top five industries for Lincoln park are
manufacturing, retail trades, construction, transportation and warehousing, and food service.

Community Functioning
I find the systems theory to explain why Lincoln Park is in a downfall. The city does not
have strong horizontal relationships which are the internal relationships. The citizens of Lincoln
Park do not agree with what the council is doing with the city. Due to the large influx in the
Hispanic population, many people residing in the city are not legal citizens and therefor are
unable to vote to fix this issue. The systems theory using the analogy of a mechanical city where
all parts of the system work closely together-well coordinated and integrated and this will

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produce an efficient, well-run city but this is not happening in Lincoln Park. Even though people
are having problems, there is a lack of funding from the city to assist with things like fixing the
roads or updating the schools. When I was younger, there was a greater funding source in which
the city was better able to budget. Since then, many of our large revenue producing companies
have moved out of the city of Lincoln Park creating a deficit for funding sources. The small
businesses have had a difficult time keeping themselves in business due to the large population
drop in the city. People are not moving into the city or staying in the city but rather leaving to
move elsewhere even if this means letting their homes foreclose. There are not many production
or distribution companies left in the city of Lincoln Park also resulting in loss of jobs.
Many residents of the city do not take the time to get to know their neighbors or others in
the city. There has also been a great deal of people no longer caring for the outsides of their
homes resulting in a poverty looking city. If you drive though the city now, you will see garbage
in peoples yards, trash cans sitting at the street even though garbage day was three days ago, unkept front lawns, stray dogs, and much more. This is not a good look for the city since new
people whom may look at moving here see this and are discouraged.

Analysis of Changes
Some of the changes that have been implicated in the city of Lincoln Park are the
Downtown Development Authority, which is working with business to help bring the downtown
back to life. There is very little left in the downtown area of Lincoln Park but new businesses are
being brought in and buildings are being revitalized. A loft style apartment complex was opened
in 2014 with shopping underneath the lofts. This is bringing business and jobs to the downtown
area of Lincoln Park as well as more housing. This is not very affordable housing and will not

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assist the vulnerable populations, but may be able to bring more money to the city. The Lincoln
Park Housing Commission is also helping the elder population to find safe, affordable housing in
the city of Lincoln Park. They currently run an apartment style complex that is created just for
seniors in the community. .
One of the major changes that are being implemented in Lincoln Park is the Emergency
Manager that has been appointed to the city. This emergency manager is working diligently to
help revitalize this city and helping to avoid bankruptcy. The emergency manager understands
that in order for this city to thrive, he has to bring revenue to the city. He states in an interview
with Fox 2 News that he needs not only to bring revenue but to make sure that people are aware
that Lincoln Park is a safe city to live in and a convenient city to downtown Detroit. This
emergency manager is also trying to assist residents in Lincoln Park to learn all of their options
when it comes to their own personal bankruptcy and trying to educate the population of their
rights as home owners.

Community Member Interactions

I have found that many of the community members do not interact much with each other.
Many neighbors do not know each other and do not communicate like they used to in the past. I
have also noticed less people playing in parks with their children or at the community center. The
community center pool closed in the late 2000s causing there not to be a public pool anymore.
This was a great place for members of the community to come together and meet each other. I
have also noticed that many of the members in the community do not take time to get to know
new residents, even if they are on their block. When the city has public city council meetings,
very few residents of the city attend unless there is a large issue they are concerned with.

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Individual Reflection
The city of Lincoln Park was my home for 18 years of my life. My father still resides in
this city and is a small business owner. I learned many things from this city including, poverty
and how it effects peoples lives, crime, how drugs effect the lives of individuals, diversity, and
so much more. Unfortunately, Lincoln Park is not the best city around but it will always be my
hometown. There are not many people that go out and play in the parks or take advantage of the
city activities that are offered. Drugs are a major issue in the city of Lincoln park and I have lost
many cohorts that I graduated with to drug overdose. I have seen this city change for the worse
and continue to see it downfall as time goes on. I have learned how to respect people of different
cultural backgrounds and seen racism at first hand since this community was predominantly
Caucasian but is now expanding to other diverse cultures. I have learned to value what little my
family had growing up while seeing my friends families struggle to put food on the table. I feel
that growing up in this city has made me a better person and I am able to better respect people
for this learning experience.
Part 2
Interview and Survey Methodology
For the interviews I conducted I decided to talk to a local business owner who owns
Rons Tranz Man and then interview a former Lincoln Park High School teacher who taught
when I went to school in 2004-2008. I thought these two people would be very knowledgeable
about the difficulties Lincoln Park is facing. Some of the main things Ron from Rons Tranz Man
had to say was he has been living in the city of Lincoln Park for 25 years and has owned his own
business for the last 18 years. Ron said he has noticed a lack of pride that people show in their

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homes, their children, and even themselves. He stated that people just dont seem to care about
their lives anymore. He has personally faced hardships with his business over the years but still
tries to maintain his building and parking lot to keep his neighborhood looking live and well. He
told me about how he has had issues with people breaking into cars that are sitting in his parking
lots and vandalism to his building. He himself has though of moving out of the city but cannot
afford to move his business and cannot sell his home for what he owes on it. I thought it was
very kind of him to give me all these detail and an insider look at the difficulties of owning his
own business.
For the interview and surveys I used a very general way of asking the questions. I wanted
to leave these as open ended questions as to get the full option of the people I was surveying and
of my key informants. I fell that a multiple choice questionnaire would have limited what people
were able to tell me about the city. When I decided to survey the population of the city, I found it
best for me to contact people via Facebook. I did not think it would work well if I were to go
door to door as people in Lincoln Park tend to not answer the door for strangers. I did not have
any problems contacting people over Facebook and many people were very happy to help with
my community analysis. I did try and contact many different city officials from Lincoln Park but
was unable to interview them. I have found that many city officials do not want to talk about the
negative issues in their cities. I have heard other classmates disuses this as well.

Community Problem
During my interviews, I found there to be a great deal of problems in the city of Lincoln
Park including lack of funding, no parks and recreational programs, poor quality roads, poor
school system, lack of pride, high crime rate, low police force, crumbling infrastructure, white

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flight and someone even described the issues Lincoln Park is having as like a mini Detroit.
Although there are all these issues in the city, I have decided to mainly focus on the lack of a
parks and recreation department.
I have found that many people in city of Lincoln Park do not know others living in their
neighborhood unless they went to school together. Many people tend to keep to themselves and
keep their children close to home. There are no safe parks for families to take their children to or
programs for children to attend when they are out of school or the summers. This is a major issue
because it keeps children from getting to know one another and getting out into their
neighborhood. Children have a lack of respect for the neighborhood they are living in and I
believe it is because they are not out in the community getting to know what the city has to offer
them. The park and rec program was cut from the city budget years ago. When I was a child, I
remember going to a summer program at a local park in the city of Lincoln Park and getting to
know other children from around the community. These programs were cut about 15 years ago
when the city was losing money but they were never reinstated. Not only is this a way for
children to get to know one another, but also their families. Citizens in the community do not get
out and get to know one another. This is difficult for them to do when there is not a clean, safe,
well-kept park near their home for them to meet other people of the community. The parks that
are currently in Lincoln Park are very outdated and some are dangerous. The playgrounds that
our children are supposed to be able to play on are falling apart, not kept up well, need to be
painted, and many of them need to be taken down all together. The city does nothing with these
parks except mow the grass and many times the residents take over this job for the smaller parks
in their neighborhoods to keep up the look of the city. City parks are supposed to be a place

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where children and families can play and get to know one another without having to worry about
their childrens bikes being stoles, or being robbed while letting their children play.
Lincoln Park used to have a community pool where residents can come together and
spend the day at the pool. Unfortunately, the community center where the pool was located was
sold about five years ago. When the center was closed, the private owner decided that he did not
want to maintain the pool and closed it permanently. This was very devastating for the residents
of Lincoln Park because many children and families would spend their summer days at the pool.
The residents were able to buy a pass for the pool or pay a small amount every time they went
there. The school system used to also use the pool for the graduating seniors of Lincoln Park
would have a senior day where they were invited to the community center for a barbeque and
would be allowed to swim in the pool for the day. This is no longer a place where people are able
to gather forcing them to be out on the streets finding their own things to do.
I feel that a parks and recreation program are very important for a city. This is something
that bring people to the city to use if they are well maintained and easily accessible. Now that
Lincoln Park does not have the community pool and is very limited on what they offer in the
Community center, I do not feel that people from other cities have a reason to come to Lincoln
Park and spend their money on local activities. When people are looking to move into a city, they
look to see if the city has things like a community center, public pool, safe parks, public
gathering places, and this is something that Lincoln Park can no longer offer to residents. I feel
many families do not choose to live in the city, but may feel as if they are stuck because of
financial issues.
Community Assets and Barriers

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The city of Lincoln Park has many assets but also a great deal of barriers. Some of the
assets areas follows. The historical museum, which is able to bring people to the city to see the
history of Lincoln Park but due to budget cuts and lack of funding the historical museum is only
open one day a month with very limited hours. Many of the schools do not take the children to
the museum due to this issue causing residents to never have the opportunity to learn the history
of the city. Lincoln Park does have a public school system that is open to anyone living in the
city. This is a great asset for a city since many cities have had to close their public school system
and rely on other cities to educate their children. Lincoln Park has a 74.9% graduation rate. This
is a very low rate for a public school system and it seems to be declining over the years. Lincoln
Park offers very few courses for college preparation and is very limited on the classes they offer
now. One of the key people I interviewed used to be a computer teacher for the Lincoln Park
High School but was permanently laid off two years ago due to lack of funding in the school
system. The school system has also tried to get rid of the music programs like choir and band,
but the parents of the children attending the schools have fought to keep these programs alive.
There is a library in the city of Lincoln Park which residents have the ability to use, but the
books are very outdated and have not been updated in years and the computers all have old
technology that does not allow certain things to be done on them such as using Microsoft Word.
This is an issue for students that rely on the library for a computer system since not every
household can afford to have a computer.
Another program that is hosted in the city of Lincoln Park is the Parole Office for
southwest Michigan. This can be looked at as both an asset and a barrier. Since the parole office
is located in the city of Lincoln Park, people whom are on parole will need to live close enough
to attend their meetings at the office. This means that many people on parole may be living in the

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city of Lincoln Park. This can be an issue if they are continuing to commit crimes during or after
their parole time is up. This can also be looked at as an asset since it can bring people to the city
of Lincoln Park.
Lincoln Park is a very diverse area and they offer many different churches and places of
worship. Throughout Lincoln Park, there are many different religious gathering places of all
different religions. The smart bus system also runs though the city of Lincoln Park and is a major
way of transportation for many. There is also a head start program that is offered in Lincoln Park,
but the main headquarters for this is The Guidance Center which is located in the neighboring
city of Southgate. The children of Lincoln Park are offered this service and it has been proven to
be effecting in helping educate children with lifelong learning skills. Lincoln Park also offers
many different housing options such as section 8 housing, senior living centers, apartments, and
houses. I also learned that Lincoln Park has an American Indian Service and cultural center that
is able to help with different issues American Indians face. There is also a drug rehab center in
Lincoln Park called Community Care Services and Faith Recovery Center. I find this very
important since another issue Lincoln Park has been having is a drug problem. Western Wayne
Family Health Services also has a Lincoln Park location where they are able to offer mental
health services as well as other low cost health services.
A major barrier Lincoln Park has is we do not have any homeless shelters. Homelessness
is a major issue in the city of Lincoln Park yet there are no homeless shelters or overnight
shelters in the city. The closest shelter is about fifteen minutes away by car, in the city of Detroit.
This is an issue for the city because homeless people are now breaking into abandoned buildings
and squatting in houses so they have a place to stay. There are no services being offered to this
population since no one is working in this area with a shelter. There are also areas of Lincoln

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Park that are wooded areas and many homeless people tend to live here when they can. They are
then using the water from nearby buildings for drinking and bathing. Another issue in Lincoln
Park is the payday advance loan shops. Many people are taking out these loans but are never able
to fully pay them back. The payday loan company gets a portion of their paycheck until the loan
is paid, but since this person is already in poverty they are needing to borrow more money the
second they put money onto their existing balance causing people to become further in debt.

Population Affected by Problem

The population most effecting by the lack of parks and recreational areas is anyone with a
child living in the city of Lincoln Park. People are affected by this issue when they have nowhere
to take their children to spend time with them or for their child to do activities in the city of
Lincoln Park at low rates. This also affects the neighborhood because Lincoln Park is not paying
to keep their park areas clean and safe for people to use. The parks often have graffiti thought out
the area as well as broken glass. This affects the price value of the neighboring homes because
people do not want to live next to an un-kept park where they are more likely to face vandalism.

Options for Change

The main action that can be taken to fix the problems of the lack of parks and recreational
programs in Lincoln Park is for the city to contribute a numeral amount of funding to assist in the
recreation of the parks and rec program. This would require the city to designate a certain
amount of funding each month or budget period to maintain the parks and being offering summer
programs. This could be done though grant funding and volunteers.

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Another possible change for the city of Lincoln Park would be to start bringing in big
businesses with an incentive for them to move to this city. Lincoln Park needs to boost their
funding source and this would be one of the major ways to do this. The city is already under
control by an emergency manager whom is trying to revitalize the city and so far has made some
very important changes.

Solution Proposal
The solution I propose would be to set an allotted amount of money aside to help
revitalize the park and rec program. This can also be assisted though fundraising either at the
school level or by writing grants to try and get state funding to created parks that will bring
people from other cities to enjoy giving Lincoln Park a better name. This could possibly bring
more residents to the city if they are able to see that Lincoln Park is working on it reputation and
trying to revitalize the city. The parks and rec program could also be assisted by large companies
like The Guidance Center who is already in charge of the head start program for Lincoln Park. I
feel they would be able to sponsor the parks and rec program which can get children back
involved in their city. This would boost the pride of the city which could help to get people back
out into their neighborhoods to clean their areas. By starting back up a parks and rec program,
this could help to assist in revitalizing the city all together.

Evaluation
The evaluation for this program would be to see if youth crime rates reduce by giving
them other activities throughout the year and involving them in city projects. If the youth are

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given more pride in their city by allowing them to be part of programs like parks and rec and
being able to put things like basketball courts back into the city or reopen the community pool,
they will understand that they are doing something the better this city. For example, there are
groups of school age children in Detroit whom go around the city and help to bored up
abandoned homes. These children are volunteering their time and helping to raise funds to be
able to do this. These youth have more pride in their city and are striving to rebuild Detroit. I
think this would work the same in Lincoln Park since these are two very similar cities.

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References
Lincoln Park, Michigan. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://www.citydata.com/city/Lincoln-Park-Michigan.html
Lincoln Park's Official Website! (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2015, from
http://www.lincolnpark.govoffice.com/

Netting, F., Kettner, P., & McMurtry, S. (2008). Assessing Human Service Organizations.
InSocial Work Macro Practice (Fourth ed., pp. 258-305). Pearson Education.

Snyder appoints emergency manager for Lincoln Park. (2014, July 3). Retrieved March 31, 2015,
from http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/25939559/snyder-appoints-emergencymanager-for-lincoln-park

United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2015, from
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/2647800lk.html

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Interview for Key informants and survey
What do you feel is the main problem with the city of Lincoln Park?

How do you feel the city can fix this problem?

What are you most proud of that Lincoln Park does?

Any other comments about the city?