New place-led policies and practices are essential to addressing the nation’s long-standing spatial divides. States have critical roles to play in making any comprehensive, place-based strategy work. In a new report, John D. Ratliff argues that state leaders can dramatically affect the prospects of places by setting the rules, providing funding and resources, facilitating cooperation across jurisdictions and sectors, and modeling good behavior.
In a three-part series, Hanna Love and Cailean Kok examine the economic, social, and civic impacts of downtown public space investments in three cities that have long experienced social and economic divides. The authors capture important lessons for public space managers, arguing that the nuances in how we plan, program, and govern spaces have far-reaching impacts for equity and access.
The collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Fla. raised questions about governance issues related to communal living. Given that common-interest communities and other shared ownership models support wealth-building for younger and lower-income families, the public sector and the real estate industry need to make efforts to strengthen the governance of community ownership assets, Tracy Hadden Loh writes.
Transformational place-based efforts. Supporting an equitable economy—particularly for communities experiencing generations of disinvestment—requires transformative place investments. A recent report by Dynamo Metrics found that Michigan’s place-based economic development programs, such as the Michigan Community Revitalization Program, increased occupancy rates and property values in residential and commercial buildings. New York’s Buffalo Billion initiative illustrates that, for such programs to produce inclusive outcomes, local intermediaries should play a key role in connecting multidimensional components and strategies, and engaging multiple stakeholders and the community.
Toward a sustainable future. Hurricane Ida and deadly wildfires on the West Coast provide further evidence of the urgent need for policies to build a resilient future. Recent articles from Governing and Vox highlighted some policy options for cities, including mixed-use development as well as safer streets for bikes and pedestrians. More importantly, all levels of government must consider how they can address racial justice challenges at the same time. People of color not only disproportionately experience the impacts of environmental hazards, but also tend to live in communities with higher projected risks of climate change impacts, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
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