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It Took a Group of Black Farmers to Start Fixing Land Ownership Problems in Detroit

Rhonda J. Smith

November 06, 2020 |

Planet Detroit |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Two urban farmers launched a GoFundMe and raised $55,000 to help provide land security to Black farmers in Detroit. Through the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund, they will select applicants to grow crops for five years and provide technical assistance to growers who want to purchase their own land. The amount raised is not enough to help everyone who needs it, but organizers hope city programs make land more accessible to neighborhood residents.

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An Ohio Mill Town Lost Its Identity. Can Youth Sports Restore It?

Kevin Williams

November 03, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Hamilton, Ohio

The promise of a youth sports facility in Hamilton, Ohio, is already prompting financial development in the once-bustling city. The indoor sports complex, Spooky Nook, will be the biggest of its kind in North America. Currently, a complex by the same company has provided a significant boost to the economy in Mannheim, Pennsylvania. In Hamilton, vendors who had once given up on the economic revival of the Rust Belt town are now returning with high hopes for the local economy, especially now that 35 weekends in 2022 are already booked for events at the stadium.

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Jumpstart trains developers to fight gentrification in Philly neighborhoods

Courtney Duchene

September 29, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jumpstart Germantown and five spinoff programs trained about 1,000 people in the art of locally controlled neighborhood rehabilitation. The Jumpstart programs target particular neighborhoods, mainly mid-range housing stock with vacant and deteriorating conditions, and lend money to newly minted developers to fix and resell the properties. Housing rehabs maintain the character of neighborhoods, rather than gentrifying them or making wholesale redevelopment changes. Beyond the community improvement benefits, the program helps diversify the real estate business and provides employment opportunities.

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How the World's Largest Garbage Dump Evolved Into a Green Oasis

Robert Sullivan Jade Doskow

August 14, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Staten Island, New York

The former Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island is turning into a public park that will accept visitors in 2021. By capping the trash site with plastic, covering it with soil, and planting native grasses, city officials are restoring the area’s former tidal wetlands and scrublands; nearly 314 plant and animal species have already been sighted. While the successful closing of the dump nearly 20 years ago means that the trash is being sent to other neighborhoods in the United States where people dealing with economic hardship live, the project could be a model for sustainability and urban renewal.

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Mosaic Development Partners works to bring people of color into the real estate market

Jessica Blatt Press

July 08, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mosaic Development Partners (MDP) seeks to create wealth for the black community in Philadelphia by providing affordable housing and creating opportunities in neighborhoods that are considered risky investments for typical real estate companies. The black-owned company has created housing as well as retail opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses who historically have a harder time accessing capital and loans. The company is mission-driven but operates on a for-profit model, finding economic solutions for systemic problems that have kept black communities from creating generational wealth.

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How a Waco nonprofit built a community grocery store in a food desert

Ciara McCarthy

June 27, 2020 |

The Victoria Advocate |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Waco, Texas

Jubilee provides an oasis in a desert - a food desert that is. The community grocery store provides the only fresh food for miles around at competitive prices and makes an effort to cater to the local clientele, stocking items that have been requested and offering locals a discount. The much-needed grocer is the work of a local nonprofit, Mission Waco, which worked with the community to assess its need before raising funds from corporations and celebrities. The success of Jubilee serves as an example to food deserts across the state who have looked to it for a blueprint to serve their own communities.

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Minneapolis Funding Its Parks With an Eye to Equity

Zoe Sullivan

April 09, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has approved a new scoring system to prioritize parks that are most in need of an investment, from the limited funds available, based on equity measures such as race, income, population density, and crime. This data-driven system is used in conjunction with the park board's judgment of a park's infrastructure and has pinpointed parks which were not typically on the park board's radar for renovation.

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How the Knox County Land Bank is affecting local communities

Cheryl Splain

March 02, 2020 |

Knox Pages |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Mount Vernon, Ohio

The Knox County Land Reutilization Corporation, also known as the Knox County land bank, takes abandoned properties that are vacant and tax delinquent, revitalizes them, and then sells them to new owners. This eliminates blight around the county and encourages economic development. The Land Bank President estimates that for every $1 the land bank spends, they generate $33.82 in redevelopment. Operating in earnest since the fall of 2018, the land bank has brought $3.5 million in reinvestment into the county. They are now looking to acquire even more buildings and financially support individual homeowners.

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The Great Tulsa Remote Worker Experiment

Sarah Holder

February 28, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tulsa, Oklahoma

In an attempt to spur the economy and reverse years of a declining population, Tulsa, Oklahoma is paying remote workers $10,000 to live in the city for a year. The carefully-selected 100 members of this project, known as Tulsa Remote, are treated to subsidized housing, several perks, and a curated experience designed to create a sense of community and belonging in hopes that they choose to remain in Tulsa. The first phase resulted in 25 percent of participants purchasing homes, a step toward the long-term economic and social boost the experiment was designed for.

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Jacksonville Organization Attacks Violence, Blight With Holistic Approach

Claire Goforth

February 27, 2020 |

Juvenile Justice Information Exchange |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jacksonville, Florida

After the residential real estate market collapsed a decade ago, a developer that had been revitalizing an impoverished Jacksonville neighborhood with single-family homes pivoted to a broader approach to reducing crime and blight. Progress has been difficult, and violence in the neighborhood remains high. But, by building larger complexes and offering an array of services and interventions, Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corporation is achieving slow but steady social change.

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