Residents are urged to come to a city meeting Thursday to share their thoughts on how to improve neighborhoods in Salisbury.

The city needs public input for its 2015-2020 Housing and Community Development Plan. The city has to put the plan together every five years and present it to the department of Housing and Urban Development in order to be eligible for Blockwork grants.

The funds go toward improving neighborhoods in the city that meet HUD requirements. Basically, a neighborhood is eligible if 51 percent or more of the households are considered to have low or moderate income levels, according to Trey Cleaton, a senior planner with the city.

Part of putting the plan together is hearing from residents about what they think neighborhoods in Salisbury need.

The meeting is at City Hall, 217 S. Main St., and will last from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Cleaton called the meeting a “needs assessment.” People can say what they think are the biggest needs in Salisbury, he said.

He said the meeting will be the first of at least two public-input sessions. He said the next one will be sometime early next year.

There is also a two-question survey people can take on the city’s website, www.salisburync.gov. The survey asks people what they think should be the most important focus for improving the city’s neighborhoods, and what neighborhoods could benefit from community-development improvements.

The survey can be found by cycling through the links on the city website’s homepage.

For the last five years, the city has been using HUD grants for projects in the West End, Jersey City, Park Avenue and East End neighborhoods.