The 2000 Spring Rutgers Bloustein Community Development Studio partnered with the West Side Park Conservancy/Friends of West Side Park and the Newark Empowerment Council to develop a community plan for West Side Park, a 35-acre park, located at the heart of Newark’s West Side Park neighborhood. The students toured the West Side neighborhood, immersed themselves in Newark’s and the West Side community’s history and established relationships with local community based organizations. With the help of community based organizations, the team worked with community residents and organization leaders to generate a list of community priorities. During the semester, the community meetings grew in terms of resident turnout, active participation in the planning process and overall engagement in the discussion of what items were of priority for the park’s redevelopment.  The final research result produced a three-phase plan.