Here is a visual mapping of QOL’s organizational structure

Use these directions to give yourself a tour of Southwest Central Durham

Take this guide along with you on your tour to learn more about the buildings and places that make Southwest Central Durham so special and unique!

View a map of the work being done in the West End by our Community Development Corporation (CDC) housing partners.

View a map of the historic structures in Burch Avenue, Lyon Park, and West End Neighborhoods, put together by Preservation Durham.

QOL partnered with NC State University College of Design and Self Help Credit Union to develop design guidelines for future residential development in Burch Avenue, Lyon Park, and West End neighborhoods. These guidelines are meant to help developers maintain the unique character of these neighborhoods.

In 1992, Durham City Council adopted a revitalization plan for a targeted area of Southwest Central Durham—Burch Avenue, Lyon Park, and West End. This update reflects a process of strategic planning by City staff, neighborhood residents, and their partners.

In 2006, QOL and the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership partnered with the City of Durham to engage a team of design professionals to work with the West Chapel Hill Street community to articulate and draw on paper their visions of how this street could be a more vibrant center of economic and community activity.

Read the “Economic Needs Assessment” of West Chapel Hill Street, put together in 2005 by the Duke-Durham Revitalization Team as the request of the West Chapel Hill Street Merchants Association.

Reflections on QOL’s journey through January 2007 and a plan for future direction and next steps

In late 2005, QOL retained OpenSource Leadership Strategies, Inc. to facilitate a strategic visioning process designed to build on QOL’s success and move to the next phase of development. Specifically, QOL sought to clarify its purpose and strategic goals, as well as the organizational capacity needed to support its efforts.

In 2005, each of the four Committees of QOL: Housing, For Profit/Economic Development, Non Profit, and Celebrations and Traditions, created their own separate action plans. This is a project summary of all Committees describing those plans.

After the dedication of Pauli Murray Place in June 2005, the QOL Housing Committee saw a need for a comprehensive housing plan for SWCD. To formulate the plan, more than forty community people came together to assess their own neighborhood’s current housing profile.

Reflections on QOL’s journey up until December 2004, and a plan for future direction and next steps

Duke University Office of Community Affairs, in partnership with the Quality of Life Project Steering Committee, hired the Rosselli Network to facilitate the development of the inaugural QOL Action Plan and thus to link communities and people of all ages and backgrounds together around the QOL mission and a step-by-step vision for fulfilling it.

Click the link above to view our brochure!

On April 21st, Durham City Council approved the Tuscaloosa-Lakewood Neighborhood Protection Overlay(NPO). The Tuscaloosa-Lakewood Neighborhood Association worked with the Durham City Planning Department to formulate an additional set of ordinances to protect the unique character of this neighborhood in future development. The process of creating the NPO and building consensus around it took two years. TLNA is the first neighborhood in Durham to successfully complete an NPO.

Proposal to add one cent to the property tax rate to address affordable housing needs in Durham. This proposal is sponsored by Durham Affordable Housing Coalition (DAHC) and backed by multiple community groups and non-profits in Durham.