Overview

Vision Port Richmond is a comprehensive community plan created by the fall 2012 Hunter College Urban Planning Studio.

The plan was created for the Port Richmond Anti-Violence Task Force, a community organization dedicated to combating racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, reducing violence, and ameliorating racial and cultural tensions in the Port Richmond community of Staten Island’s North Shore.

The Task Force challenged the studio group to create a comprehensive vision for Port Richmond that would act as a guide for bringing about short- and long-term improvements in the community. To meet this challenge, the members of the studio team conducted research on the history and current conditions of Port Richmond, presented their preliminary findings to community members, facilitated a visioning workshop where over forty people shared their concerns, opinions, and visions for what Port Richmond could be like in the future, and, finally, synthesized all the research, community input, and additional investigations into a set of goals and recommendations for the Task Force to pursue.

Driven largely by input from Port Richmond residents, the report distilled the following guiding ambition for the community: To unlock the potential of Port Richmond and increase opportunity for all residents by building a safer community, advancing economic development, and fostering neighborhood cohesion.

To advance this vision, the report put forth the following seven general goals:

1. Create a Safer Community
2. Foster Pride in Cultural Diversity
3. Promote Economic Justice and Development
4. Manage Growth
5. Connect Community to Its Waterfront
6. Enhance the Built Environment
7. Strengthen the Anti-Violence Task Force

The report included specific recommendations for each that the Task Force could pursue in the short or long term. The studio aimed to make this report as actionable as possible so as to arm the Task Force with many different avenues to take toward improving their community.