News & INSIGHTS

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Residents of two Syracuse neighborhoods can apply now for home improvement grants of up to $2,500 under a long-awaited city program to spruce up housing in the Salt Springs and Tipp Hill-Far West Side areas.

If you want a grant, you’ll have to get together with your neighbors. City officials will only consider applications from teams of at least three neighbors who all commit to making curb-appeal improvements to their homes.

Each team participant can receive a matching grant of up to $2,500. A team can include members who take on different sized projects. One team member might replace a door for $100 and receive a $50 grant, for example, while another might spend $5,000 on new landscaping and receive a $2,500 grant.

The grants are paid after the work is completed.

City officials say they are looking for projects that increase curb appeal. Examples include but are not limited to new house numbers, painting or installing a front door, exterior lighting, new windows or shutters, repainting a porch, installing new front steps, a new walkway, or flower boxes or planters.

Projects generally must be completed within 90 days of approval, but projects approved between now and Feb. 15 have until June 30.

The Neighborhood Block Challenge program is open to both owners and tenants, but only in the two designated city neighborhoods. To qualify as a team, each resident must live within sight of at least one other team member. Officials say they hope the program spurs collaboration.

The program is an outgrowth of a housing strategy unveiled more than a year ago that recommended spurring investment in middle-income areas to boost city home values and encourage private investment. Similar programs in Des Moines, Iowa, and other cities have yielded success.

Applications to the Syracuse program are now open, Mayor Ben Walsh announced today.

The city will conduct a webinar from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday to provide more information. The session will be recorded for those who want to watch it later.

Officials also will provide information at in-person events this week. The first will be 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Burnet Park ice rink warming room. The second will be 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday in James Commons at Le Moyne College.

City officials say they anticipate awarding about $70,000 in grants to neighborhood teams, but that might increase if there is additional demand. A subsequent program is planned for next year to help homeowners pay for major repairs.