According to the digital edition of the Fall River Herald, Fall River is one of five gateway cities to be awarded state funding intended to jump start a revitalization initiative in the Flint neighborhood that will focus on vacant and affected properties, including empty storefronts.

In recent years, the Flint area has struggled to keep stores and apartments occupied.

The funding, called the Neighborhood Hub, comes from a multi-agency partnership including MassHousing and MassDevelopment with the goal is to help communities with high vacancy rates.

Fall River received $120,000, which will help fund the creation of an urban renewal plan as well as a neighborhood revitalization plan for the Pleasant Street area. Mayor Paul Coogan said the city will be going out to bid to hire a company to create the two plans.