Imagine that a big new building is being constructed in your neighborhood.
You find out that the developers’ plans involve a large truck carrying construction materials and waste up and down your residential street, a place where children often play. You worry about the kids’ safety, and you want to express your concern—but as one person, how much can you do?
This is a question that members of the Roosevelt Action Association (RAA) don’t have to ask. When this group of neighbors found themselves facing this exact situation, they collectively gave that feedback to the developer and were able to get the plans changed.
“What we are attempting to do as an organization is be a mouthpiece for everyone in our neighborhood,” said Dustin Wright, vice president of the association.
RAA was formed in 1981, and the Roosevelt neighborhood received its historic designation in 1983, becoming Phoenix’s first historic neighborhood. The neighborhood’s boundaries are roughly McDowell Road, Central Avenue, Van Buren Street, and Seventh Avenue.
RAA offers both practical help—like tools for keeping alleys clean and safe—and opportunities for neighbors to meet each other. And they make sure that renters are included in the conversation.
Connecting renters and homeowners
The Roosevelt neighborhood, like many downtown, includes a mix of renters and homeowners. The contrast between small, historic homes and new high-rises can sometimes cause some tension.
“There is, especially for homeowners, this stigma that renters are somehow harmful or damaging to their neighborhood, so there is a bit of a nuanced conversation that has to occur for every one of these neighborhood organizations about how you can actively pull in renters to be considered a positive force,” said Wright, an engineer and homeowner who’s lived in Roosevelt since 2020.
RAA tries to bridge this gap by sometimes holding their monthly meetings and an after-party in large developments’ community rooms. The goal is to give members a chance to see inside these buildings and form connections with the people who live in them.
“One of our neighbors, he lives in a house his grandfather built with his young kids and family and wife, and they struck up a friendship with some folks that live in one of the multi-family units … and so that’s cool,” Wright said. “They might not have ever met if it hadn’t been for one of the after-parties.”
RAA also recognized that it’s more difficult for residents in multi-family buildings than homeowners to sell items in a yard sale, so they recently held a community yard sale where they encouraged renters to participate.
“That coolness factor of having an old-school yard sale, just taking your wares downstairs with some price tags on it, you don’t get that opportunity if you live in one of those buildings,” Wright said.
Keeping the community engaged
Beyond monthly meetings, which draw in an average of 35 people, RAA hosts low-stakes social gatherings that make it easy for neighbors to connect.
There’s a monthly neighborhood cleanup where neighbors get together for coffee and donuts and pick up trash. RAA also puts on regular, free porch concerts, where residents can hear live music and have food and drinks from local businesses.
Annually, the association holds a historic home tour, which allows people to see inside some of the century-old houses in the neighborhood.
Wright said all of these events have resulted in a connected community that often feels like a small town, something he didn’t feel when he lived in the suburbs.
“My wife and I, whether we go to the grocery store or pop into a little local restaurant or anything, we’re constantly bumping into people that we know, neighbors in our community,” he said. “And that’s really been because of the Roosevelt Action Association.”
Upcoming events for the Roosevelt Action Association, following a summer break:
- Sept. 15, neighborhood meeting
- Nov. 14: Roosevelt Historic Home & Business Tour
