STEP

I'm not really sure where we are supposed to be putting the responses to our economic recovery questions. STEP took time and gave a great detailed response to the questions so I thought that other people might want to know whats up and thus I am posting it to the blog:

Q. How is your organization dealing with the economic downturn? Is it affecting your organization? What about the population that your organization serves?

A. STEP is a transportation advocacy group that is all-volunteer. We operate with a very small budget and have done so before and after the downturn. We are not a service delivery organization so we do not have clients per se. We do serve the entire Somerville community and I would say that the economic downturn has refocused many peoples’ time and attention to personal economic survival. It is always difficult to do extensive outreach to environmental justice communities because it is very time-intensive, and as a volunteer organization, that is challenging.

Q. In your opinion, what is the main economic need in Somerville?

A. The city of Somerville receives one of the largest state subsidies through local aid because we have very little commercial tax revenue compared to many other cities. Although Somerville is not as poor as Lawrence and Chelsea, because of this we receive a similar percentage of state aid. This limits our ability to provide needed services that are not based on grants. There are very few jobs in Somerville so most employed residents must travel to other cities and towns to work. Where Cambridge has more jobs than residents, Somerville has way more residents than jobs. We have higher property taxes than Cambridge and this is a problem for low and moderate income families to buy and stay in the city. We need to do smart economic development that will bring new companies and jobs to the city and increase our commercial tax revenues.

Q. We're trying to understand how people and organizations in Somerville are connected. What are the three (or more) most important partnerships you have -- OR -- the organizations you work most closely with?

A. STEP is a member of the Community Corridor Planning Coalition with Groundwork Somerville, Somerville Community Corporation and the Somerville Health Agenda. We work with them on community involvement in planning the Green Line extension and the land uses around the station.

STEP also collaborates and its work and some members overlap with the Mystic View Task Force which focuses primarily on economic development issues and in particular on Assembly Square. Both groups work on issues associated with the effects of mobile pollution on people living near high volume highways and arterials. STEP works with the Union Square Main Streets, East Somerville Main Streets and the Chamber of Commerce on issues associated with land use and economic development. STEP also works with the Somerville Bicycle Committee and the Friends of the Community Path to promote better bicycling and pedestrian access through the city and in particular on extending the Community Path along the Green Line into Cambridge and downtown Boston.