One Block At a Time: The Role of Organizing in Sustainable Community Development

One Block At a Time:The Role of Organizing in Sustainable Community Development

Samantha Brockfield BUP Senior Problem SynthesisAugust 2010

This is the lesson the planning community now needs to learn: it must take responsibility for its acts in a historical, unpredictable society rather than in a dream world of harmony and predetermined order. To make modern cities meet human needs, we shall have to change the way in which city planners work. Instead of planning for some abstract urban whole, planners are going to have to work for the concrete parts of the city, the different classes, ethnic groups and races it contains. And the work they do for these people cannot be laying out their future; the people will have no chance to mature unless they do that for themselves, unless they are actively involved in shaping their social lives. - Richard Sennett, The Uses of Disorder: Personal Identity and City Life. 1970 Synthesis structureIntroduction Site Description: Avondales Avenue District

Problem: Planning and Control

History

Urban and Regional ContextLiterature Review and Case Studies Existing ConditionsAnalysis and Forecasting

Goals and Objectives

Alternatives

Recommendations

Implementation

Summary

IntroductionTo succeed and be sustainable, neighborhood revitalization must start at the ground level with local people making the decisions that matter for their families and their community.Local residents and stakeholders should create and drive plans for developing their communities. Todays cities need a new type of planner.Site Description: Avondales Avenue District

This area is bounded by the following Avenues: Erkenbrecher Forest Dury Burnet

Because all eight streets in the district are Avenues, it is named The Avenue District.Site Description: Avondales Avenue District49 % homeownership rate, long-term owner occupancy, historic housing stock, central location.Proximity to regional destinations and Burnet Avenue revitalization. Deteriorating housing stock, absentee landlords, litter, congested on-street parkingHigh crime perception, mistrust from history of institutional expansion, economic downturn, foreclosures.Problem StatementThe traditional approach to community development aims to revitalize neighborhoods using a top-down planning process. Planning should not manipulate and control communities but rather lay foundations for vibrant and abundant community life. Todays economic and political environment presents an opportunity for an entirely new approach to city planning.HistoryCommunity Development Corporations (CDCs)Originally formed, driven and controlled by membership made up of local residentsFocused on rebuilding localized economies and improving public services Today most have lost touch with original mission and membershipHistory1980: Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Corporate and foundation dollars to CDCsLarge-scale projects 1986: Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LITC) Incentive for private investment in affordable housing narrowed CDC focus and concentrated decision makinghistoryForeclosure crisis: vacancy and unemployment are swiftly accompanied by a downward spiral of blight, crime and urban decay. US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP)The model post-real estate boom: Comprehensive Community development

Urban and Regional ContextAvondale:Low income African American community Surrounded by growing institutions Population 16,3004th largest in Cincinnati Negative public perception

Priorities: Safety HealthEconomic Development EducationHousing

Urban and Regional Context

Urban and Regional ContextLISC Sustainable Communities ProgramUptown ConsortiumPlace matters funding collaborativeObstacles to progress: Concentrated power and resourcesDamaged organizational relationshipsUnclear goals and valuesLack of willingness to change

Literature ReviewTraditional Methods and Alternate ApproachesValidation planningRelational organizing and social capitalSustainable community development

Validation PlanningProfessionals as experts who generate plansSite visits to define problems Community forums Efforts to minimize transparency and participation for various reasonsFind local representatives to demonstrate buy-in for proposed developments

Social CapitalSocial Capital: Extent to which members of a community can work together effectively (Community Building Institute, 2010)

Engaging residents in creative problem solvingCreating strong social networks to help them further their objectivesBonding (internal)Bridging (external)

Community BuildingNecessary components of community:Commonality: Shared needs and interestsInterdependence: Shared community ownership and responsibility Collective capacity: Support is generated locally through relationships

Asset Based Community BuildingSource: Neighborworks Place Based TrainingCommunity Organizing ModelsRejects the notion of poverty as pathologyThe Golden Rule: never do anything for someone that they can do for themselves. Rallies people around specific issues or problems, targets people in power develops strategy, demands and tactics for winning.Originally confrontational in style

Community Organizing ModelsRelational approach aims to build sustainable community networksThe term consensus organizing is more popular with fundersFocuses on both bonding and bridging capitalBasis of Sustainable Communities model

Grassroots Revitalization

Leaders committed to participation as top priority Intensive organizing effortsUrban planners who create common spaces as community victoriesCourageous funders who understand value and commit to connective strategies (Putnam, 2003)

Case studiesS. BronxBanana Kelly Development CorporationComprehensive Community Revitalization Program

ChicagoLISC New Communities ProgramQuality of Life PlanningEnglewood

S. Bronx 1970 - 1990

Devastated by urban renewal, disinvestment, arsonCommunity organizing fueled revitalization1990s affordable housing boom

Photo: Jimmy Carters 1977 Visit to South Bronx (Teresa Zabala / NYT)Case Study: Lessons from the BronxBanana Kelly CorporationEconomic decline as catalystEfforts led by residents, fueled from resources inside the neighborhoodMembership organization for the curved section of Kelly StreetSelf help / sweat equityCase Study: Lessons from the BronxJohnsons War on Poverty programs resulted in affordable housing boomPower grab attemptsMembers became staff, leadership narrowedEventually surpassed by newly formed CDCs due to competition for resourcesAuthor disapproves of CCRPs approach, believing it treated poverty as pathologyLessons from Banana KellyNeighborhood success as function of resident controlResidents of urban neighborhoods are the solution, not the problem.To prescribe solutions for urban neighborhoods is to manipulate and enslaveTo see an outcome accomplished without the requisite participation further debilitates those without power

Case Study: Lessons from the BronxComprehensive Community DevelopmentBy the 1990s CDCs had produced 22,000 units of affordable housingFunders concerned about the limits of housing revitalizationCCRP focused on developing CDC capacityIncorporated community organizing to decrease dependencyCCRP Visioning & Planning

Collaborative planning processCommunity, implementers and outside expertsDevelop shared vision and strategies Task forces, workshops early action projects1996 APA Presidential AwardBasis for new LISC Comprehensive Community Building Institute

Case Study: Chicago LISC New Communities ProgramCCRP - inspired14 neighborhoodsMacArthur Foundation 10 year $47 million

Six to nine month processLed by a task force of 20 - 30 people Five or six major meetingsSubcommittee structure Outreach effort to the community. Respond to physical development, transportation, education, health and jobs.

Case Study: Chicago LISC New Communities Program

Published Plan:Community historyIssuesWork programRenderings of proposed projectsPhotosMapsVisionStrategiesProjectsProgramsCase Study: Chicago LISC New Communities ProgramState a clear vision for the future Address the neighborhoods key problemsDescribe projects and programs that can be implementedAre achievable within five yearsHave widespread support in the communityAssign responsibilities Timeframes for implementation Case Study: Chicago LISC New Communities Program

Early action importantIntensive LISC involvement10 week processUpheld by city depts.Case Study: Chicago LISC New Communities ProgramENGLEWOOD2 African American communities 85,000 residents

Vacant land UnemploymentPoor schoolsAccess to transportation Lack of retail

Englewood Seeks turnaround After Long Slide Source: www.teamenglewood.org

Case Study: Chicago LISC New Communities ProgramEnglewood: 2004 Quality of Life Plan500 individuals 100 organizations 10 strategies, 48 projects

Public spaces Retail Recreation Health Education Youth employmentwww.teamenglewood.orgEnglewoods Plan

Case Study: Chicago LISC New Communities ProgramPlan progress:Crime reductionBlock clubsYouth employmentNew retail Agricultural district

Youth Job Training ProgramSource: www.teamenglewood.org

Existing ConditionsThe Avenue District as a pilot Target area defined by neighborhood character: Land use, housing stock conditions, tenancy, history and demographics.

Existing Stakeholders :

Avondale Community CouncilCenter for Closing the Health Gap, Avondale do right! Greater Cincinnati Urban League Cincinnati Childrens HospitalAvondale Redevelopment Corporation The Model GroupUptown Consortium Burnet Avenue Revitalization Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical GardenRockdale Academy / Community Learning Center

2009 Landscape Project

Chase BankLISCARCZoo100 volunteers 40 yard trees Improved streetscape New relationships basis for block club Avenue District Block Club

Residents working together to improve their neighborhood

Begun November 2009

Monthly meetings

Quarterly report to council

Average attendance: 15 homeowners

Accomplishments

Current projects

Existing Conditions: 232-238 Northern Ave

0.5 acre vacant land

Formerly housing

2 parcels

Litter and weeds

Overgrown vegetation

Retaining wall, graffiti

SITE BACKGROUND

Visioning: Public Space

Northern Larona Community ParkIllustrated Vision

Northern Larona Community ParkEntrance (Perspective View)

Institutional expansion has created severe competition for on-street parking.

There are also underutilized off-street parking facilities.

Analysis and forecastSustainability applied to communities: The fields of urban planning and community development have traditionally aimed to improve quality of life for all people yet poverty, segregation and disenfranchisement remain prevalent. Clearly the traditional model is not sustainable.Analysis and forecastCDCs are locally based yet externally controlled, working in specific communities yet ultimately accountable to outsidersIn order to begin building the platform for sustainable community development, we must achieve a basic level of social capital using relational organizing as a tool.However public policy, banks and foundations are barely warming up to the importance of this approach to ensuring the sustainability of community development. While resident driven neighborhood revitalization is generally appreciated, there is not sufficient support for the organizing required to build social capital.

Analysis and forecastThe district block club shows that neighborhood improvements can be achieved by bringing local residents and stakeholders together and also connecting them to outside resources. While the physical change may seem insignificant to some, each improvement represents a new or strengthened relationshipAnalysis and ForecastingBlock club concept gaining approval with Avondale community councilThe Avenue District as a pilot for sustainable community development in Avondale. Other potential districts that share neighborhood character: land use, housing stock conditions, tenancy, history and demographics : Harvey bounded by Glenwood, Vine and ForestNeighborhood bounded by Harvey, Reading, Ridgeway and ForestGlenwood from Reading to GreenwoodChallenges involved

Analysis and forecastingForeclosureProperty speculation and abandonmentStrategic and accountability questionsChallenge for relational organizing approachACDC opportunity for new approach to community development in Avondale.Goals and Objecives Goal: Outline recommendations for the role of organizing in the comprehensive community development model to create meaningful leadership roles for residents and become more sustainable.

Objectivesa. Define implications for urban planners: new roles, responsibilities and relationships with communities.b. Describe a workable social capital strategy for Avondale based in relational organizing. Identification of alternatives1. Traditional model of community planning will remain dominant in Avondale. Business as usual, no emphasis on social capital development.

Identification of alternatives2. Efforts are made to compromise the two approaches in Avondale. The sustainable communities model is touted as a way to build new institutional capacity without any meaningful community organizing component.

Identification of alternatives3. The sustainable communities model is used to develop support for a consensus organizing approach to sustainable community development. An entirely new type of community planning emerges.Evaluation of alternatives1. Top-down, controlling process prevails. No new leadership or local control in low income communities and thus no sustainable change will be achieved. Improvements that are made will be those created from the top-down and maintained at the will of disconnected outside forces. This is a frightening proposition considering the prospect of deepening market failure because poverty and powerlessness breeds violence. Evaluation of alternatives2. Funder efforts to develop institutional capacity without valuing the consensus organizing approach will not achieve the desired long-term impacts. Simply giving more power and resources to the same people does not improve communities if they do not share it. Similarly, new programs and policies in and of themselves do not engage people in their neighborhood. Evaluation of alternatives3. Relational organizing methods are used to increase citizen leadership and build institutional capacity in select target neighborhoods to demonstrate the efficacy of the model. Once a strong task force is built in this way, the community begins developing a quality of life plan. These plans connect communities with resources for implementation and early action. Planners work with communities to develop their vision into plans. recommendationsThe sustainable community development model is used to develop support for a consensus organizing approach to neighborhood revitalization in Avondale.The appropriate adaptation of LISCs Building Sustainable Communities program in Avondale is imperative to demonstrate the efficacy of the organizing approach in the region.

recommendationsA planning process beginning at the local level requires systematic change in the traditional approach to urban planning and community development. This requires a highly participatory process in which residents and local stakeholders drive planning efforts including required benchmarks for participation and local leadership.recommendations1. Rally a task force of residents and stakeholders. Organizing staff will perform widespread mailings, phone-banks, door-knocking campaigns and community meetings to engage as many people as possible in the upcoming planning process. During the first two meetings the task force identifies community issues and creates committee for each.

recommendations2. Urban planners are initially a form of technical assistance. During visioning sessions (charettes) planners provide necessary data, maps and visuals and help the task force develop strategies for implementation. Planners communicate goals and strategies to local officials, identifying potential project overlap and outside resources for projects.

recommendations3. The community task force then implements an early action project to build momentum for the plans success. LISC and planners have helped build partnerships and resources for implementation. Planners draft the resulting plan but do not publish it until the community approves it and determines roles for action.implementationAvenue District GreenspaceSchedule and budgetCurrent project status

Avenue District StreetscapeParking campaign

Avenue district greenspacePhase 1 (2010) Water access, clearing, paths, signage, service drive andmaintenance shedPhase 2 (2011) Landscaping, garden, gazeboPhase 3 - Benches, tables, trash cans, lightingPhase 4 Fitness track, playgroundPhase 5 -Performance area / stage

Avenue district greenspacePlan approved by city and countyLeased to ARCPhase one began August, 2010Long term maintenance and liability unknownPossible transfer to Zoo with deed restrictionsBudget: $50,000 LISC/Chase and In-kind$10,000 Phase 1$20,000 Phase 2

Block Club Parking Campaign

Project statusSurvey results showed consensus on section of Wilson Avenue.City has worked with block club to address the issues of parking and lighting on this block.Potential partnership with ArtWorks in 2011 for youth mural along the retaining wall to highlight block club success.SUMMARYAt face value the comprehensive approach is more sustainable because it diversifies investment in the midst of housing market failure. However a relational organizing approach is what makes the model truly sustainable regardless of market forces. When people are empowered to lead planning efforts in their own communities, synergistic relationships are formed which spur unexpected positive change in urban neighborhoods. Directions for future actionMaking the case for consensus organizing to foundations, banks and the public sector by demonstrating the efficacy and sustainability of an organizing approach to community development.Hiring and training sufficient numbers of community organizing staff. Developing relationships with local government officials who will adopt and support the new community plans developed at the local level.

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Twelvetrees, A. (1989). Organizing for Neighbourhood Development. Brookfield: Avebury.