Sixty-inch flower pots placed by the Newark Downtown District line Raymond Boulevard. Photo: Andaiye Taylor

NEWARK, N.J. – To frequent visitors, downtown Newark has in the past couple of years become greener, cleaner, and more pedestrian-friendly than it has been in recent memory.  In addition to the new flowerpots, garbage cans, benches, and lampposts that now dot the sidewalks, visitors said they have also noticed the bevy of workers in yellow shirts who tend the area.

The workers are employees of the Newark Downtown District, also known as NDD, a nonprofit created more than a decade ago by a city ordinance. The NDD is devoted to increasing the commercial viability of the district.  Its employees, who they dub “ambassadors,” stand out in their bright outfits as they power wash the sidewalks, scrub the graffiti, sweep the streets, and otherwise maintain the neighborhood.

Over the past three years, the NDD has aggressively embarked on a neighborhood beautification campaign. The district’s innovative use of Geographic Information System, or GIS, technology lets its employees efficiently track and maintain the new neighborhood improvements.

To use the GIS technology, the NDD affixes a unique bar code to the improvements when they are initially placed. If a worker spots a problem, he or she scans it, submitting a time stamped work order to a central queue where it is prioritized and assigned by NDD management. People in the neighborhood can also submit damage reports by either calling a hotline or logging onto the district’s website, identifying improvements by type and location, and characterizing the damage.

The workers’ use of the GIS scanners, skinned in yellow and black to match their outfits, is subtle, but people who live, work, and shop downtown notice the upkeep, thanks to the new technology.

Roshawn Bristol, 39, of Newark, sees the workers as a sign of increased collective pride in the city. “The people with the yellow shirts, they’re out cleaning,” she said. “Newark is beautiful, and they’re making it that way.”

Most people incorrectly assumed that the city employs the workers. The NDD’s online interface enables people to submit complaints about city-owned property, but the organization forwards those requests to the appropriate city agency. According to a report summary furnished by the organization, more than six of 10 issues captured by the system are ultimately assigned to the NDD to address.

Though no one denied that the improvements are a positive change, a few people went out of their way to distinguish between refacing the downtown neighborhood and implementing the more fundamental changes they think are necessary in Newark.

Oscar Mercado, 31, is a Newark homeowner and parking attendant who works two blocks from the Prudential Center arena.

“You can cosmetically dress it up with a little flower pot, a couple benches,” he said, while sitting on an NDD bench in front of the parking lot. “All these little decorations haven’t changed anything.”

Abdul Holden, 35, of Newark, said the professionally dressed workers are a signal that the city is “trying.” While he thinks more fundamental work needs to be done to improve the city, he said he also thinks sprucing up the neighborhood is an easy win that can change perceptions of Newark.

Pennsylvania-based GIS Tech Solutions designed the system to the NDD’s specifications. The company’s president, Bill Chappell, said that while he has designed programs for other municipalities, this is a unique application of his company’s technology. Chappell said that the Newark Downtown District can further integrate GIS by building a mobile phone application that automatically detects users’ coordinates, enabling them to submit repair requests even more easily.

The International Downtown Association is considering the NDD for its 2010 IDA Downtown Achievement Award for applying GIS technology to capital improvement maintenance.

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