City’s stop in Stop Six needed, encouraging

Fort Worth wants to give Stop Six some love, and its residents need to give some back.

Mayor Betsy Price, District 5 Councilwoman Gyna Bivens and other city officials toured the historic Cavile Place/Stop Six area Tuesday as the city rolled out its Neighborhood Improvement Strategy, which would spruce up the east-side community.

Stop Six is in need of focused help. Price said unemployment in the neighborhood is more than 20 percent. The city’s rate is around 4 percent.

The student graduation rate is about 51 percent in the neighborhood. Almost 96 percent of children are receiving subsidized meals at school.

The neighborhood also struggles with many boarded-up and/or tax-foreclosed homes.

The city’s $2.56 million pilot program aims to help Stop Six’s future, and the community gets to help decide how that money is spent.

“Be familiar with what we do,” Bivens said at a news conference. “Every Tuesday we can take votes that change your lives.”

Bivens is working on selling the foreclosed homes, while code-compliance personnel clean trash.

Stop Six neighbors need to get civically engaged to see positive change.

This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 5:46 PM with the headline "City’s stop in Stop Six needed, encouraging."