DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — In the 25 years Gail-Lee McDermott has lived in Delray Beach's Osceola Park neighborhood, she said her working-class community has consistently been overlooked.
"You'll get what you want. Everything will be beautiful. That fell apart," she said.
The Osceola Park community extends South of Southwest Second street and west of Federal Highway.
McDermott joined James Quillian, president of the Osceola Park Association, on Monday night, along with some of her neighbors who feel city commissioners are not doing enough to address their needs.
"For years it's been blighted by the city. How? By removing all the tax dollars that would normally go to keep an area like it's supposed to be, upkeep," Quillian said. "So, if you remove all of that, you're blighting it on purpose."
"They want to enhance the neighborhood, the identity, the character and just create a better quality of life and they deserve it," City Commissioner Juli Casale said.
Casale said the city updated the Osceola Park Redevelopment plan in 2019.
"Some of the things that we've been doing currently are improving roadways and alleyways, including paving, landscaping and traffic calming, upgrading pedestrian ramps and sidewalks," she said.
However, McDermott said what Osceola Park really needs is a commission to listen to the families who work and live here.
"We've worked hard to build this neighborhood and I think we've been successful," McDermott said.
A redevelopment project proposed for the neighborhood has come up and failed twice for various reasons. But commissioners are expected to discuss a mixed-use development in the area Tuesday.