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Bethlehem's Award-Winning Strategic Neighborhood Action Plan (SNAP)

The City of Bethlehem's Strategic Neighborhood Action Plan (SNAP) is designed to put city government back to work in the neighborhoods of Bethlehem. In June 1999, the program received a national honorable mention award in the "City Livability" contest judged by the United States Conference of Mayors.

The goal of SNAP is very simple: to improve the delivery of basic city services - services like plowing snow, picking up leaves, fixing pot holes, paving roads, cleaning parks, and, most importantly, keeping neighborhoods safe and attractive.

To help reach this goal, the city created a SNAP team of workers from all departments and levels of city government. The team also includes the ALERT Partnership, a non-profit community group based in Allentown. The team visits several Bethlehem neighborhoods each year, interviewing residents and touring neighborhoods to determine what work is needed regarding public safety, streets, parks, and other basic services.

The SNAP team then gets right to work - fixing potholes, scrubbing graffiti, reorienting snow plowing or leaf collection schedules, checking on buildings that don't meet codes. The neighborhood "sweep" culminates in a community open house, usually held at a park or firehouse, where residents and city officials (including the mayor) meet to discuss neighborhood issues.

To address longer-term concerns, the SNAP team works with residents to form neighborhood organizations or block watches. These groups are supported by the city's SNAP team (particularly by Bethlehem's community police officers) and empowered to take responsibility for neighborhood vitality.

When and why was it created? Bethlehem first used the SNAP concept in 1997 to address public safety concerns in one neighborhood. SNAP has since been expanded to neighborhoods throughout the city. The program is often aimed at neighborhoods that have experienced a noticeable decline in the condition of housing stock, a shift from owner-occupied housing to rental units, and/or an increase in public safety concerns.

How has the program improved the quality of life in Bethlehem? SNAP has made a difference in two very important, very basic ways. First, the program has strengthened neighborhoods by bringing together residents and city officials to address a variety of concerns. Working together, city government and residents have increased interest in neighborhood issues and encouraged a spirit of cooperative responsibility in caring for neighborhoods.

Second, by making a priority of regular and routine visits by city workers to neighborhoods, city government has strengthened its focus on basic service issues. Too often we in city government forget the importance of basic services - foremost keeping our neighborhoods safe, clean, and attractive - we are entrusted to provide. SNAP helps us remember this lesson every day.

Why is the program innovative? The SNAP concept is deceptively simple - but it works because it is a true cooperative effort between residents and city government. Government alone can't build strong neighborhoods, the heart and soul of any great city. Government must do its part and residents must do theirs. In Bethlehem, the SNAP team and city residents work together to develop plans that best serve our neighborhoods. The days of "one-size-fits-all" government are over in Bethlehem; city government is now being customized to fit the real needs of our neighborhoods.