| For Immediate Release For report and other online information: |
Contact: | Milly Hawk Daniel 212- 629-9570 ext. 208 mdaniel@policylink.org |
New York, NY, February 8, 2006—Innovative programs in five urban centers are the focus of a new report released today that highlights efforts to revitalize America. The report, Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda for Rebuilding America’s Older Core Cities, is the work of PolicyLink, the national organization that uses research, communications, capacity building, and advocacy to recommend solutions to some of the nation’s seemingly most intractable problems related to economic and social inequity.
“Each of the programs cited in this report could be adapted in other older urban centers to support economic revitalization and expand opportunity for all residents,” said Radhika K. Fox, principal author of the report. “For that reason alone,” she continued, “they deserve recognition for supporting the well-being of the city and its residents and should be congratulated for the success they’ve demonstrated.”
The five cities are Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Often referred to as rust belt, weak market, slow growth, or undercapitalized cities, they have been hit hard by a changing economy, decades-long out-migration of people and resources, and a devastating ebb in state and federal government support.
Each of these cities is home to unique collaborations among public, private, philanthropic, and community institutions that are advancing innovative approaches and strategies. The report highlights over 50 programs and policies that are reinvigorating older core cities by promoting economic development; engaging anchor institutions; promoting equitable transportation policies; reclaiming vacant and abandoned property; making all neighborhoods stable, healthy, and livable; and increasing affordable housing in opportunity-rich neighborhoods. (Click here to view the full list -- PDF)
Among the programs cited in the report:
”Many of our nation’s struggling urban centers helped define American industry, culture, and civic life, but many Americans are tired of hearing about their plight,” Fox concluded. “This report tells the positive story, the one that talks about revitalization, renewal, and restoration of these and other cities.”
The information in Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions, was compiled through extensive research, interviews, and analysis that points the way back from stagnation to a future where older core cities are economically competitive places and all residents have the opportunity to participate and prosper.
In developing the report, PolicyLink worked with leading community organizations in each of the five cities: the Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative, Neighborhood Progress (Cleveland), Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the Philadelphia Neighborhood Development Collaborative, and Sustainable Pittsburgh.
Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda for Rebuilding America’s Older Core Cities can be found at http://www.policylink.org/Research/OlderCoreCities/ For more information or to arrange interviews with Radhika K. Fox or representatives of local programs cited in the report, please contact Milly Hawk Daniel, mdaniel@policylink.org, or 212-629-9570, ext. 212.
PolicyLink is a national nonprofit research, communications, capacity building, and advocacy organization dedicated to advancing policies to achieve economic and social equity based on the wisdom, voice, and experience of local constituencies, with offices in Oakland, CA and New York, NY. PolicyLink bridges the traditional divides between communities and the world of policymakers by lifting up what works®.