While the national spotlight focused on November’s hotly-contested Congressional races, infrastructure and land use issues took center stage as ballot initiatives in state elections across the country.  In California, a series of bond measures for critically needed investment in affordable housing, school facilities, transportation, flood safety, water quality, and parks were approved by comfortable margins.  With the passage of the bonds, it becomes imperative to insure that this multibillion dollar infrastructure investment will benefit all Californians, particularly those in underserved low-income communities and communities of color with aging facilities, overcrowded schools, and scarce parkland.  PolicyLink president Judith Bell was quoted in a Contra Costa Times article about the “tidal wave” of resources released by the ballot measures, and PolicyLink will continue to work with state and community advocates to keep equity principles at the center of infrastructure investment decisions. 

Voters in California and 10 other states also considered controversial “property rights” ballot measures, many of them inspired by anti-eminent domain backlash in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo v. New London decision.  Californians defeated Proposition 90, an extreme initiative that combined eminent domain issues with a provision that would have required the state to compensate developers and landowners for any reduced value in property as a result of zoning or land use requirements.  These “regulatory takings” measures—approved in Arizona but soundly rejected in Idaho and Washington—would have a chilling effect on the progressive zoning and planning laws that allow communities to create and preserve affordable housing and open space, and enforce environmental protections.  Anxiety over Kelo-style property seizures, however, was reflected in the success of eminent domain restrictions, which passed widely in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, and South Carolina.

For further commentary on property rights and eminent domain issues, visit the American Planning Association, Smart Growth America, the Michigan Land Use Institute, and the National Conference of State Legislatures.  For more information on PolicyLink work to insure equitable public investment, visit http://www.policylink.org/EquitablePublicInvestment/default.html.

The movement to “green” American cities has blossomed into a remarkably varied collection of activities that create or revive parks, trees, creeks, community gardens, urban farming, public art, and other expressions of diverse cultures.  These projects have created many new jobs and local enterprises; sparked the recovery of disinvested neighborhoods, strengthened community based organizations, and inspired an undeniable growth of local pride, spirit, and civic engagement.  With roots in community development, environmental justice, and efforts to overcome racial and ethnic health disparities, green projects can be a unifying force for local change.

A recent series of documentary films, conferences, and research projects have raised the profile of the urban greening movement and captured the distinct qualities of how it unfolds in different cities.  The PBS series Edens Lost and Found profiles, with great perceptiveness and depth, grassroots efforts in Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Los Angeles. (The first two episodes have already aired, while the LA and Seattle films will appear in January. See www.edenslostandfound.org for details about the films and related books.)

The film series also inspired Growing Greener Cities, a symposium held October 15-17 at the University of Pennsylvania.  More than 200 community leaders, policymakers, nonprofit developers, horticulturalists, and researchers discussed issues ranging from the business prospects for “green building” practices to issues of race in environmental education.  Victor Rubin of PolicyLink moderated a panel on equity issues in community greening. In this panel, John Barros, executive director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, described how his organization’s work  began with efforts to prevent illegal trash dumping in the community, and eventually broadened to include creating a greenhouse, parks, and affordable housing. Patricia Smith, former director of Philadelphia’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, illustrated how important small parks and open space have been in the campaign to revive blocks with abandoned properties.  Michael Howard, head of the Fuller Park Community Development Corporation in Chicago, described how a small neighborhood’s campaign to address lead poisoning and other dangers has led to the creation of their own nature education center and wildlife conservancy. And J. Allen Johnson, of the North American Association of Environmental Educators, reminded the group how understanding of environmental issues must go hand in hand with greater awareness of racial and cultural diversity.  A volume of essays based on the conference will be published next year by the University of Pennsylvania Press.

LouisianaRebuilds.info, the comprehensive internet portal that serves as the “first stop on the way home” by connecting displaced Louisiana residents to rebuilding resources has launched a user-friendly, redesigned website with information on Louisiana communities, housing, education and childcare, health and safety, and jobs and local business.  Since its initial launch in March, LouisianaRebuilds.info has provided thousands of Louisiana residents with the information they need to return home and rebuild.  Also new on the portal is the Guide to Hiring a Contractor, an online overview of contracting basics, licensing issues, insurance, and pricing to help residents considering a contractor for major home repairs. As with all resources on LouisianaRebuilds.info, the information in the contractor guide is also available offline through the toll-free telephone number 1-877-LA-Rebuilds (1-877-527-3284). 

Home to internationally known companies like Eastman Kodak, the city of Rochester was once an economic powerhouse of upstate New York.  Yet with dramatic downsizing of major employers and sustained loss of manufacturing jobs, the region’s economy, lower-income residents, and working families are struggling.

On November 9, Action for a Better Community, Inc. sponsored the Monroe County Community Summit on Poverty and Prosperity. The meeting brought together policymakers, service providers, advocates, and citizens for information-sharing and frank discussion about the barriers to eliminating poverty in the city of Rochester and surrounding Monroe County. PolicyLink Senior Associate Radhika Fox delivered the luncheon address, challenging participants to think in new ways about how to address  economic disparities in upstate New York.

The recommendations and discussion that emerged from the Rochester meeting will inform a National Symposium on Poverty in Washington DC, that is being convened in May 2007 by the Community Action Partnership, a nationwide network of local community action agencies and antipoverty advocates. 

Residents of a previously underserved San Diego neighborhood now have the historic opportunity to reap the benefits of economic development as both consumers and investors.  Market Creek Plaza, a mixed-use commercial and cultural development in San Diego’s diverse and historically disinvested Diamond Neighborhoods recently held its landmark “Community Development Initial Public Offering” (IPO) for community members to hold an ownership stake in the unique resident-planned development that has revitalized the area with new retail, small business opportunities, public space, and other amenities. 

Anchored by a Food 4 Less supermarket (at which over 90 percent of the initial unionized jobs were held by neighborhood residents), Market Creek Plaza was conceived, planned, and developed by teams of community members in partnership with the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (JCNI).  JCNI and resident working teams assembled a diverse package of public and private funding for the $23 million project, including $500,000 worth of community owned shares.  Through negotiations with the California Department of Corporations, which provides IPO and securities oversight, JCNI made provisions to insure fairness and mitigate risk, and crafted an investment and public education plan to reach out to local residents.  Shares, or units, were offered at a price of $10 each, with a minimum purchase of 20 units, and a payment plan option to assist lower-income buyers. 

After extensive public meetings and shareholder education efforts, the IPO was fully subscribed, with 423 investors (about 600 people, since an investor could be an individual, family, or community group) who either live, work or own a business, or volunteer their time in the Diamond Neighborhoods.  The average investment was $1,185, and the majority of those purchasing units were first-time investors.  Over the next several years, Market Creek Plaza will expand to become a transit-oriented village with 800 units of affordable housing and extensive facilities for nonprofit organizations.  For more information on Market Creek Plaza, visit http://www.marketcreekplaza.com.  For background on the development’s resident planning and engagement process, download the PolicyLink case study Market Creek Plaza:  Toward Resident Ownership of Neighborhood Change.