Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

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REGIONAL OPPORTUNITYIn 2001, thanks to Fruitvale Main Streets’ leadership,the district’s commercial property owners adopted aBusiness Improvement District (BID), throughwhich property owners pay an assessment for TheUnity Council to provide enhanced safety andcleanliness services. According to the Council’sexecutive director, Marsha Murrington, the BIDgenerates about $220,000 per year, paying for dailycleanup and for graffiti abatement. These activitiesimprove local businesses’ ability to attract customers.The Unity Council saw the BID as a greatopportunity to create jobs for its workforcedevelopment clients. It hired several clients to cleanthe Fruitvale commercial district and to serve asAmbassadors (a community based, uniformedpatrol). This later grew into a public spacemaintenance business, with 12 full-time cleaningstaff and two Ambassadors, that has successfully bidon other contracting opportunities.ResultsAccording to the Ford Foundation’s Anthony,regional equity involves connecting marginalizedcommunities to regional opportunities. Byconvincing the MTA to extend the Second AvenueSubway through East Harlem, RPA and its allies arehelping establish anew regionalRegional equity involves connection for EastHarlem residents.connecting marginalizedThis connectivitycommunities to regionalwas furtheropportunities.enhanced by RPA’ssuccessful advocacyfor a station at 116 thAvenue. Through the workshops and the WorkingGroup, RPA has worked with the community todesign stations that would serve and support the EastHarlem community with increased housing andeconomic opportunities. Through the WorkingGroup and its streetscape planning activities, RPAhelped to build the capacity of community intereststo have and build a long-term vision for EastHarlem. In addition, the RPA linked thesecommunity interests with regional agencies. Inpartnership with the East Harlem community, RPAhas built a model for community-based planningthat can be replicated as future transportationinvestments occur throughout the New York Cityregion, ensuring that commitments to jobs, housing,and transportation access persist.Similarly, positive results of the Fruitvale Main StreetProgram were identified by LISC’s Forbes. Since theinception of Fruitvale Main Street Program, 268 netnew jobs and 76 net new businesses have been createdin the Fruitvale commercial district. Over 115 façadeimprovements have occurred. The BusinessImprovement District (BID) was described as asignificant result in itself—LISC provided thetechnical assistance on how to start a BID, andprovided funding for a consultant to actually establishthe BID. Even more, the Main Street program andthe BID had dramatic impacts on InternationalBoulevard and the surrounding Fruitvale community.For example, International Boulevard saw doubledigit commercial vacancy rates in the 1990s andtoday the rates stand at effectively zero.Lessons LearnedAccording to Ford’s Anthony, “Communitymembers, particularly those most at risk ofdisplacement, must have specific, consistent, andculturally appropriate opportunities to access andinfluence the planning of any specific TOD.Affordable housing should be integrated into anynew transit-oriented development, paying particularattention to income levels in the surroundingneighborhoods. Business and economic developmentopportunities for local residents and entrepreneursshould be incorporated into the planning,construction, and operation of any new TOD.Again, community involvement is fundamental, butnot only at the project-specific level.” Anthonypoints out that the East Harlem Community LinkInitiative demonstrates that community interestsmust engage the regional decisionmaking processesand its practitioners to best ensure that any newTOD becomes a true community asset.The lessons for LISC and other funders of The UnityCouncil’s Fruitvale Transit Village are thatcommercial corridor revitalization programs arecomplex and each urban community has its ownchallenges and opportunities. Thus, a commercialcorridor revitalization program needs to be developedslowly, specifically based on the local community’sneeds. Because each community is different,providing technical assistance toward commercialcorridor revitalization “requires a toolkit with manydifferent tools,” explains Sheila Daniels, program105Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
director with LISC. No one set of solutions will workfor every community, so funders and technicalassistance providers need to have a variety ofsolutions to choose from and to offer. It is importantthat commercial corridor revitalization is part of acomprehensive local strategy. The Unity Council,like the other initial participants in the Main StreetProgram across the nation, was already pursuingmultiple, related community development strategiesand wanted to add a commercial corridorrevitalization strategy to complement their existingefforts. 46 Explains LISC’s Forbes, it is clear from thisproject that, “Neighborhood commercial districts arecommunity gathering places and have a great impacton a community’s perception and self-image”When planned and impacted properly, TODprojects such as these can serve as an inclusiveengine of a community’s economic revitalization.Absent a meaningful commitment to communityinvolvement and benefit, TOD projects can haveserious negative consequences on a community’sexisting residents. The Ford Foundation’s Anthonyexplains that “Transit-oriented development canbe an asset for the community, or it can be aliability. For it tobe an asset, certainsteps towardcommunityinvolvement,affordable housing,economicdevelopment, andcapacity buildingmust be taken.”Both the Regional“Neighborhood commercialdistricts are communitygathering places and havea great impact on acommunity’s perception andself-image.”— Stephanie ForbesPlan Association’s East Harlem Community LinkInitiative and The Unity Council’s FruitvaleTransit Village affirm Anthony’s assessment andformula for success.46Other initial participants in the Main Street Program includeorganizations from Tacoma, Wash., Lansing, Mich., Philadelphia,Richmond, Va., and Providence, R.I. For more information, seewww.mainstreet.org.Carl AnthonyActing Director, Community andResource Development UnitFord Foundationc.anthony@fordfound.org(212) 573-4802Sheila DanielsProgram DirectorLocal Initiatives SupportCorporation (LISC)sdaniels@lisc.org(212) 455-9803Contact PeopleStephanie ForbesBay Area DirectorLocal Initiatives SupportCorporation (LISC)sforbes@lisc.org(415) 397-7322 ext. 17Chris JonesVice President for ResearchRegional Plan Associationchris@rpa.org(212) 253-2727 ext. 321Marsha MurringtonExecutive DirectorThe Unity CouncilFruitvale Villagemgm@unitycouncil.org(510) 535-6913Nicolas RonderosAssociate Planner, CommunityDevelopmentRegional Plan Associationnicolas@rpa.org(212) 253-2727 ext. 318REGIONAL OPPORTUNITYPart III: Section 3: Connecting to Regional Opportunity 106
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Stories of Philanthropic Leadership
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Signs of Promise:Stories of Philant
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Funders’ Network for Smart Growth
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(II. B.)(II. C.)Turning Neighborhoo
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PART I:IntroductionThe Purpose of t
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social justice issues as they relat
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PART II:Perspectives on Advancing R
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peer work, we can reestablish a sig
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Annie E. Casey FoundationBaltimore,
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neighborhoods into healthy ones—g
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Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
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Section 1:Promoting Equitable Publi
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I. A. BUILDING POWER AND GIVINGVOIC
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policy advocates. In 2002, Milwauke
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in Los Angeles, Ford’s Anthony no
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I. B. PROMOTING COALITIONSTO ADVANC
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Yet the interpersonal dynamics of c
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guidelines. “Many of the member o
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Funder InterestThe EPA supported th
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I. D. DEMONSTRATING THESTRUGGLE FOR
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Richmond, Calif.The second regional
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through policy reform at the local
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I. E. BUILDING COALITIONTHROUGH KNO
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organizing project, the Connecticut
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and businesses are quantified in a
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I. G. REVITALIZING WHILEASSURING DI
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In the late 1990s, the city of Albu
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I. H. A TRAVEZ DE LA FRONTERA:LAND
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The International Community Foundat
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I. I. MOBILIZING ACTION FORREGIONAL
Page 61 and 62: To meet all of these objectives, th
Page 63 and 64: efforts. And with each public plann
Page 65 and 66: pattern of disproportionate transpo
Page 67 and 68: Clinica de la Raza identify this cr
Page 69 and 70: Contact PeopleCarl AnthonyActing Di
Page 71 and 72: Section 2:Making All Neighborhoods
Page 73 and 74: II. A. REACHING BEYONDHOUSING TO IM
Page 75 and 76: A local resident receives the keys
Page 77 and 78: East Baltimore community and the Jo
Page 79 and 80: example, adjacent to the EBDI area,
Page 81 and 82: II. C. YIELDING REGIONALBENEFITS TH
Page 83 and 84: is using transit-oriented developme
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Page 87 and 88: The Row House Community Development
Page 89 and 90: II. E. COUNTERING THE PERFECTSTORM:
Page 91 and 92: funded community programs, includin
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Page 95 and 96: owned enterprises, totaling $8.5 mi
Page 97 and 98: LOAN GUARANTEESSection 3:Connecting
Page 99 and 100: III. A. MAKING HOUSING ANOPPORTUNIT
Page 101 and 102: A new report from the National Hous
Page 103 and 104: The Straphangers Campaign was found
Page 105 and 106: Funder InterestThe Straphangers Cam
Page 107 and 108: or increase poverty. Whether direct
Page 109 and 110: The Regional Plan Association then
Page 111: multi-stakeholder effort composed o
Page 115 and 116: 12 western Louisville neighborhoods
Page 117 and 118: III. E. UNITING THREE STATESFOR ONE
Page 119 and 120: increased their personal wealth by
Page 121 and 122: summary evaluation of MSDI found th
Page 123 and 124: method alone was strong enough to m
Page 125 and 126: consistent body of work. The Counci
Page 127 and 128: 3) Issues Need to be ConnectedThe f
Page 129 and 130: PART V:Glossary of TermsThe terms d
Page 131 and 132: Regional and neighborhood equity. A
Page 133 and 134: Tijuana River Reserve, California:h
Page 135 and 136: Sargent Shriver National Center on
Page 137: 1500 San Remo Avenue • Suite 249
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