GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Residents near Badger Park off Shawano Avenue in Green Bay are coming together to foster a sense of community and address neighbors’ concerns over crime and safety.
Their new neighborhood association, called Badger Tracks, will aim to revitalize Badger Park, create neighborhood spaces for families to enjoy, stop speeding vehicles on Western Avenue and lower crime through community building.
Heather Rogina is a mother who’s lived in the area for a decade. She says she’s seen both good and bad in the neighborhood.
“I really thought about the community that I wanted to see in my neighborhood,” said Rogina. “And, this was an opportunity for me to give a voice to that.”
She joined the Badger Tracks board to encourage neighborly connection.
Watch the full story by Jessica Goska:
“If we can get to know them [the people of Badger Tracks], then hopefully that will bring crime down and help us to help one another more,” explained Rogina. “I think that’s a natural by-product of having a good community.”
Badger Tracks gets its name from Badger Park and the train tracks that cut through the geographical area of the neighborhood, bordered by Shawano Avenue on the north, Military Avenue on the east, West Mason Street on the south and Highway 41 on the west.
“Instead of focusing on the tracks as something that divides the neighborhood, they wanted to include it as part of their name as something that maybe can bring the neighborhood together,” explained City of Green Bay Neighborhood Development Specialist William Peters.
Neighborhood associations in the city are resident driven. They operate with the nonprofit Green Bay Neighborhoods to plan events and bring change to their communities.
Michelle Reinhard will serve alongside Rogina on the Badger Tracks Board of Directors. Reinhard has lived in the Badger Tracks community since she was 12 years old.
One of the obstacles to building a community feel in the area, said Reinhard, is high turnover in the neighborhood’s apartment buildings.
“They’re kind of like isolated communities in and of themselves,” Reinhard said.
To achieve its goals, the Badger Tracks board will need input from all of its community members, whether they are short- or long-term residents.
The City of Green Bay will formally recognize the Badger Tracks neighborhood association at the October 21st Common Council meeting.
