About Neat Neighborhoods

Welcome to Springfield’s Inaugural Neat Neighborhoods Competition!

We appreciate your interest in working together with your neighbors to help clean up and green up Springfield! Neighborhoods are the lifeblood of any great city and we are thankful to our Neighborhood Advisory Council and the many registered neighborhoods who work tirelessly to promote strong and healthy neighborhoods. Neat Neighborhoods competition is a part of Springfield’s Clean Green Springfield Initiative.

What is a Neighborhood?

Neighborhood Organizations and Service Areas

The Planning & Development Department’s Neighborhood Team maintains a Neighborhood Registry that has been organized to identify neighborhood service areas and the Registered Neighborhood Organization(s) that exist within each area.

Neighborhood Service Area

Each Neighborhood Service Area is based on the criteria established in the Neighborhoods Element of the Vision 20 / 20 process which defines a neighborhood as:

• “one being approximately one square mile in size…with major geographic boundaries such as arterial roads, major streams, railroads or major non-residential areas that are supported by a mixture of housing types, retail services and parks/open space within walking distance of the residential areas that contain 3,000 to 6,000 residents.”

Registered Neighborhood Organization

Neighborhood organization(s) that include approximately one half of the land area included in the service area, has elected officers, adopted by-laws, etc. and that are registered with the city shall be considered a Registered Neighborhood Organization. Each Registered Neighborhood Organization is included in the registry along with its applicable Neighborhood Service Area.

Neighborhood Advisory Council

The Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) is an advisory board, created to increase communication between organized neighborhood associations, City Council and City staff. The NAC also focuses on issues common to all neighborhoods in the City. The NAC has championed the cause of reducing chronic nuisances and crime and increasing neighborhood solidarity.

Leadership 

The NAC is led by a subcommittee of neighborhood residents, dubbed the Positive Action Committee (PAC), which meets independently to set agendas and work with City staff on focus topics.

Organization 

Membership on the NAC consists of one (1) representative from each of the registered neighborhood organizations in the City.

Chair and Host

The NAC chair is elected by the participating membership. The current NAC chair is Becky Volz. The NAC host(s) are City Council zone representatives in attendance.

Meetings

The NAC meets on a quarterly basis, generally the second Wednesday of the months of February, May, August, and November at 6 p.m.

Neat Neighborhood Competition: Getting Started
We are looking for neighborhood representatives to both create teams and join teams, as well as two individuals per City Council Zone to serve as City Stewards who will judge the competition.

Thank you again for caring about your neighborhood and city!

Sincerely,