Smaller legacy cities are often burdened by vacant and abandoned properties. Many resources exist to assist in dealing with residential vacancy, but few address commercial vacancy – which is just as prevalent in these cities.
Complete streets are built with all possible users in mind, including cars, bikes, pedestrians, and transit. Complete streets help to improve a community’s authentic sense of place by ensuring that all users will feel safe and comfortable.
Walkable spaces are crucial for creating an authentic sense of place. A complete streets policy can help communities design neighborhoods and downtowns that are safe and appealing for pedestrians.
This toolkit from Collaboration for Impact walks groups that are undertaking a collective impact project through all of the steps for a successful collaboration. The guide begins by helping groups determine whether or not a collective impact model is actually right for them, and moves them through to designing an appropriate structure for collaboration.
The toolkit is a resource for local leaders who may be new to creating formal partnerships across sectors. The toolkit is not specific to a certain kind of project or collaboration, although many of the included case studies feature community or economic development projects.
Although organizing is often thought of as a tool for progressive or liberal organizations, its tools and concepts are non-partisan. Anyone seeking to make change in their community can use the tools of community organizing, no matter whether they are focused on grassroots, neighborhood-level issues or city-wide community and economic development strategies.
Kumu is an online network mapping tool allows users to create easy-to-understand network maps that show connections between stakeholders. Maps that are allowed to remain public are free, or users can create private maps for a fee.
The ABCD model is based on the premise that distressed neighborhoods have significant resources within them in the form of individuals, associations, and institutions. ABCD focuses on empowering residents to make change in their own communities by leveraging these assets.