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Minneapolis Funding Its Parks With an Eye to Equity

Zoe Sullivan

April 09, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

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 |

Text |

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 |

Text |

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 |

Text |

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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How America's shrinking cities can 'rightsize'

Matt Krupnick

February 13, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Once-bustling cities contend with population decline by rethinking their use of space for those who remain. Baltimore, New Bedford, and Youngstown have implemented strategies that range from knocking down abandoned houses and factories to developing community gardens and creating public waterfront spaces. Racial and class tensions have arisen when choosing where to spend limited government funding.

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‘IKEA, but for Parks' Project Streamlines Community Green Space Development

Hannah Chinn

January 30, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Vacant lots in the city are being greened with an idea dubbed “IKEA, but for parks” which provides preassembled options to create parks in vacant lots. Community members are given layout and design options to choose from based on how the neighborhood decides to utilize their empty lots. Residents are then provided with supplies and training to build and maintain a public green space. The model allows for efficiency and speed while promoting civic participation.

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The Ohio River community of Newport bands together to slow runoff and add greenspace

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

December 19, 2019 |

Eye On Ohio |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newport, Kentucky

To promote the implementation of greenspaces while also decreasing the likelihood of runoff after heavy rain storms, community groups in Newport, Kentucky worked together to implement strategic depaving. This practice of removing pavement has now led to the creation of a park which will soon have rain and pollinator gardens.

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Inspiring Tale of a Chicago Neighborhood That Would Not Die

Martha Irvine

November 25, 2019 |

Associated Press |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Community members and local organizations on the South side of Chicago collaborate to reclaim their neighborhoods from crime, violence, and poverty by engaging in community conflict resolution, policing and networks of support. Groups like the Southwest Organizing Project and the Inner-City Muslim Action Network banded together to interrupt gang violence in the city, relying on the experience of former gang members and offenders to guide the organizations' missions for non-violence in their communities.

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Fresno's poorest neighborhood changed the city. How residents took their community back

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

November 15, 2019 |

The Fresno Bee |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Fresno, California

Grassroots movements for urban renewal in the Lowell neighborhood of Fresno, California has given power back to the people in the urban planning of their own community. With the help of social media, community members have created a forum between themselves and their city, resulting in 95% less blight and a reduction in crime throughout Fresno.

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Life After Coal

Michaela Barcíková Ria Gehrerová

November 04, 2019 |

Denník N |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Belgium, Genk

Genk, Belgium is a prime example of how Slovakia can transition to a post-industrial and greener future. The city "bet on innovation and creativity" to bring back jobs and persuade youth to remain in the area. Genk built a center for green energy research, invested in startups within the field of green economics, supported art installations and focused on providing classes and retraining to help miners switch careers.

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