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Teenagers will harvest fresh produce from once-empty property lots City officials and neighborhood activists are transforming the South Side’s landscape, turning a dozen vacant properties into an urban farm. The farm will employ the neighborhood’s teenagers during summer months and help alleviate the shortage of fresh produce on the South Side.

Construction on new grocery store scheduled for this summer The dream of a full-service grocery store on Syracuse’s South Side will take a very big step toward becoming a reality, as construction workers plan to break ground on the nearly $3.5 million project by June. All that remains for the project’s planners is to locate and sign a tenant for …

The Southside Community Coalition met Thursday, May 5, at the New Covenant Baptist Church, 107 E. Beard Ave. to discuss with residents their vision of bringing a Food Coop to the South Side of the city. About 50 residents and members of the group listened as members of the Food Coop committee shared their plans to bring fresh produce and …

By Students in Reading and Research at Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School Students create a position on urban renewal and how they say it destroyed a community The 15th Ward was a neighborhood in Syracuse that held about 90% of the city’s black people in the 1950s and 1960s. The newspapers claimed that the 15th Ward was full of …

Community members and transportation officials examine I-81’s role in Syracuse Years before President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System spread across American cities and eventually through Syracuse, the city’s 15th Ward was a vibrant, diverse community. Within it were high- and low-income residents, white and black neighbors and the city’s first black dentist.

Local group works to restore church, make it a national historic place Central New York historians want to give the oldest African-American church building in Syracuse a second life — through a permanent place on the National Register of Historic Places.

Local public libraries reduce services, limit events while trying to meet people’s needs In April, the Beauchamp Branch Library, at 2111 S. Salina St., will host a series of “First Movement of the Heart: Poetry and Interpretive Dance Classes for Teens.” Jackie Warren-Moore, a local poet, and Cheryl Williams Mitchell, a dance instructor, will teach five afternoon sessions in which …

New coalition of community organizations formed in response to current economic crisis A crowd of about 200 people, brought together by a new community organization, issued a call Monday, April 4, for economic justice and a renewed commitment to civil rights. Invoking the name and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the group filled the auditorium in …

Two generations of Brelands focus on positive aspects of South Side, such as decent neighbors From the second story of a yellow house, Richard Breland has watched the South Side change for almost half a century. When the 15th Ward was demolished, Breland — like many of his displaced neighbors — relocated to the South Side. But he missed the …

When Mary Nelson held her first anti-violence community meeting, it was a large rally of residents voicing their opinions and calling the community to action. She has since stuck to her promise of organizing meetings on the first Saturday of every month, but they’ve taken on a more organized, relaxed tone.