Our Community
Our Community
The historic Southside neighborhood is the oldest continuously occupied neighborhood in the city of Flagstaff. Southside is a working class community occupied by a culturally and ethnically diverse population of Hispanic, African American, Native American, and Caucasian residents. Historically, Hispanic and African American residents were recruited to Flagstaff from Spain, Mexico, and Louisiana to herd sheep and work with the sawmill and railroad.
Southside is home to many long-term residents and other stakeholders with genuine interests and investments in the future health of our neighborhood. For many years, however, Southside has been considered the “rough side of the tracks” and faces long-standing perceptions and stereotypes that come with being the “poor” part of town, primarily made up of low-income and student rentals.
In addition to the many community residents, Northern Arizona University (NAU) is another critical stakeholder in the Southside community. The University began as the Northern Arizona Normal School which opened its doors on September 11, 1899 with twenty-three students, one professor, and two copies of Webster's International Dictionary bound in sheepskin. This longstanding and significant influence of the community residents and the University make both groups important partners for the future success of the Southside Communities for All Ages.
Our People:
We are an ethnically and culturally diverse neighborhood. The ages of our community members range from infants, toddlers, young children, and teens, to university students and young adults, to middle-aged adults and seniors.
Our Strengths:
- We are a neighborhood that strongly values our diversity and possesses a sense of community from which we can build healthy intergenerational ties.
- Many community members characterize Southside as their “home” even if they no longer live here.
- Community stakeholders, both residents and non-residents, value the Southside’s unique character, including the Southside’s cultural diversity and rich history, which is indentified through architecture within the neighborhood, community gardens, cultural and historical murals, oral family histories, and ecological knowledge held by long-term members of the neighborhood
Our Challenges:
The primary concerns and needs of the Southside neighborhood include:
- A fading sense of community connectedness due the increase of temporary student rentals and the decrease of home ownership, and the lack of open shared spaces within the neighborhood;
- A lack of property up-keep on the part of land-owners and short-term residents;
- Underdevelopment due to the neighborhood’s location within the hundred year flood plain of the Rio do Flag;
- Traffic safely as several major automobile routes create barriers through the neighborhood;
- A lack of opportunities for neighborhood residents to share experiences; and
- A lack of visibility of the rich culture and history within the neighborhood.
Our Community for All Ages:
A coalition of community members of all ages, university staff , students, and local organizations have come together to make the Southside whole through a range of initiatives designed to improve the relationship between the community and the university, promote the value of the Southside’s historical and cultural contributions to Flagstaff and create intergenerational gathering spaces within the community.
