Bringing Abbotsford back to Double-Dutch central

VIVIAN HUGHES remembers the days when the streets in the Abbotsford Homes were alive with the sound of children playing double Dutch and marbles outside - a time when the community was a safe haven for its youngest and oldest members.

Now, Hughes, 70, and other longtime tenants of the public-housing development, perched high on a hill in East Falls near the Roosevelt Expressway, say the violence in their community - and the stigma that's come with it - needs to be turned around. So she, along with a handful of other residents who were newly elected to Abbotsford's revamped tenant council, are banking on a resurgence in the tight-knit community.

"We have to bring the quality of life back," said Hughes, who's lived in Abbotsford since 1965. "People went in behind the brick walls and act like they're scared to death. We don't want to live like this."

The development has long been plagued by violence and pockmarked by shootings - including the slaying this month of Christopher Curry, who grew up playing on Abbotsford's streets.

"This summer, we're going to make sure our children can walk and play," said Greg Brinkley, 54, another longtime resident. "We can't guarantee nothing's going to happen, but we can make that spirit that we're not going to tolerate it."

Brinkley, Hughes and other residents said they hope to bring back programs and activities for the children and seniors in the community and build relationships with area businesses.

"We don't want the impression [at local shopping centers] to be that people from up there are going to come rob us," Hughes said as she sat outside the development's sprawling community center last week.

Brinkley added: "It's the perception. It's not like you've got people running around just shooting."

Both said they plan to get other residents in the community involved with their vision, so that programs can be run within the community by people who live there. But, they added, they don't want to be ignored by local businesses or the city, either.

"All the businesses we've supported for years, we want them to come sponsor here like they do in other communities," Brinkley said.

The community leaders said that one of their first goals is to reestablish block captains throughout the 235-unit development.

Brinkley said they realize it may be a long road to turn the neighborhood around and coax people away from their fears.

In the sun-filled auditorium of the Abbotsford Community Center, Hughes grinned when she talked about her vision for the development's future: "When summertime comes, it's gonna be hoppin,' " she said. "I wanna see double Dutch back on the streets till their shoes turn lopsided."