The decline of Roseville can be better understood through a brief look at the city of Newark's recent history. After the Second World War, Newark suffered from waves of manufacturing plant closings, aging infrastructure, and high rates of unemployment. During the 1940s and 1950s, black migrants from the South came to Newark in search of industrial jobs and improved social conditions. Upon their arrival, they were met by hostility from white residents as the competition for jobs and housing became more intense. By the 1960s, a mass exodus of whites to the suburbs left the area populated predominantly by blacks and increasingly by Hispanics (Shaw 1994). However, whites maintained control over city politics. Increasingly, disputes over urban renewal projects and complaints of police harassment became more intense until the summer of 1967, when racial tensions exploded into one of the largest riots in the nation (Cunningham 1988).

Following the riots, city government adopted a downtown-redevelopment strategy, believing that this would create jobs, increase the city's tax base, and at least benefit the neighborhoods indirectly. However, this approach did little to relieve the persistence of inadequate job opportunities for minorities nor did it address the severe shortage of middle-income housing units (Cunningham, 1988). Business-related development mostly helped suburban commuters who entered the city every morning and left by sundown. Furthermore, the city's ability to provide services to local residents was, and continues to be, hampered by the tax-exempt status of much of the property within the city. Currently, tax-exempt entities such as: city, county, and federal buildings, colleges and universities, parks, museums, and the library, occupies about 65% of land within the city (Cunningham, 1988).

Newark, NJ, is today one of the most impoverished cities in the United States. Statistics show that Hispanics on the whole have not fared well within Newark, lending credence to suggestions that Hispanics have been underserved by the redevelopment process. This is due in part to the underrepresentation of Hispanics in city politics. In Roseville, in particular, where the percentage of Hispanics is approximately twice that of the rest of the city, residents attribute the city's neglect of the area not only to Hispanic underrepresentation in politics, but also to the fact that there is not a single politician who can be held accountable for the area (Cunningham, 1988).

(for all U.S. Census data used in this report, see Table 1)

The 1990 Census data demonstrate that the Roseville area population is worse off in almost every vital category, whether social, educational, employment, or income, than the general Newark population (see Graphs 1Ð5). The exceptions are in the rate of population decrease and in the percentage of people who do not speak English "very well." Between 1980 and 1990, Newark had a 16.4 percent decline in population, from 329,248 to 275,221, while the total population for tracts 7Ð9, mirroring this trend, had a substantially lesser rate at 7.9 percent. (See Methodology section for why these tracts were chosen to provide information concerning the study area of Roseville.) Out of those who spoke a language other than English (36.8 percent in Newark; 53.0 percent in tracts 7Ð9), the city as a whole slightly edged out tracts 7Ð9 by 0.9 percent (54.1 percent as compared to 53.2 percent) in the percentage of people who did not speak English "very well."

Newark's female-headed families comprised approximately 40 percent of all families, while in tracts 7Ð9 the proportion of female-headed families was 45 percent. Newark saw a better percentage, however small (51.2 percent), in its high school graduation rate when compared to less-than-50 percent in tracts 7Ð9. In both geographical areas less than 10 percent of the population earned a bachelor's degree; however, tracts 7Ð9 showed a lesser percentage, with only 3.6 percent with a bachelor's degree.

Of those who were part of the civilian labor force, 14.7 percent in Newark and 16.5 percent in tracts 7Ð9 were unemployed during 1990. This difference is partially reflected in the percentages of persons and families below poverty level. For Newark, 26.3 percent of persons and 22.8 percent of families reached poverty status in 1990, while for tracts 7Ð9, the threshold was 29.5 percent of persons and 28.3 percent of families.

In 1991, the Hispanic Development Corporation (HDC) established its operations in the Roseville area. According to its director, HDC chose to locate in Roseville because it was (and still is) "a forgotten area of Newark" and because "no one was attending to the needs of Hispanics" in Newark. HDC incorporated in 1995 as a subsidiary of New Community Corporation (NCC), a highly accomplished community development corporation (CDC), operating within Newark's Central Ward since 1968.

As the name "Hispanic Development Corporation" suggests, HDC was established in large part to spotlight issues of particular concern to Hispanics. At the same time, its director recognizes that revitalization efforts must be characterized by cooperation and interaction among all neighborhood residents. HDC's director has expressed a commitment to expand HDC's efforts in Roseville to "work for the betterment of the whole community." In spite of its minimal staff and relatively little funding, HDC has encouraged many accomplishments in the area through advocacy, organizing, and program initiation efforts.

As a result of efforts by community-based groups such as HDC, New Community Corporation, and the like, city government has slowly begun to recognize the needs of low-income residents, especially those of the Hispanic population. While there have been substantial improvements in Roseville since HDC began advocating on behalf of the neighborhood, the area is still in dire need of assistance for attacking its most difficult problems. The present research, requested by HDC's director in her pursuit to empower Roseville residents, highlights the complexities of Roseville's problems, its multiplicity of needs, and the urgency of both.