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Helping Kansas City Neighborhoods 'Own the Future'
- By Patrick T. Reardon, Sep 10, 2010
Two sections of Kansas City, Missouri, have had little in common over the years beyond geographic proximity. But after quality-of-life planning brought the neighborhoods together, representatives from both sides St. John Avenue worked together to create a mural that celebrates the area's diversity. It's the start of something big.
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Douglass-Sumner: Building Steps to Somewhere
- By Patrick T. Reardon, Sep 10, 2010
Two houses under construction, and a plan for the future, represent a turning point for an old Kansas City neighborhood.
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Bumps in the Road, but Nystrom Finds a Way
- By Elizabeth Duffrin, Apr 16, 2010
Creative problem-solving is just one result of a broad community effort in the once-thriving shipyard Nystrom neighborhood in Richmond, California. Neighborhood wi-fi, distribution of fresh produce and a new youth council all sprang from an initial plan for mixed-income housing and a rehabilitated child care center.
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Neighborhoods Release "Community Contracts" in Rhode Island
- By Patrick Barry, Mar 23, 2010
Neighborhood groups and their community development partners gathered in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 22 to release "community contracts" that lay out quality-of-life plans for the Woonsocket and Olneyville areas. The event generated a strong showing of local leaders and gained news coverage by local media.
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For Once, Planning Trumps Politics
- By Elizabeth Duffrin, Feb 25, 2010
The unexpected turnover of the mayor's office in Indianapolis in 2007 seemed to spell doom for a six-neighborhood effort called the Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiative. But the turnout of local residents for a series of quality-of-life planning meetings was powerful enough to drive the program forward -- with results that have exceeded early expectations.
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New Jersey Street: 'A Sense of Unity and Pride'
- By Elizabeth Duffrin, Feb 22, 2010
Two years ago, the historic Bates-Hendricks House in Indianapolis overlooked a dangerous and dilapidated stretch of South New Jersey Street. Small cottages had fallen into disrepair. Weeds sprouted through cracked sidewalks. A densely-shaded median provided cover for drug deals. Things are very different today.
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Many Plans Before, But This One Has Legs
- By Elizabeth Duffrin, Feb 19, 2010
Gathering a bunch of neighborhood folks around a table to write a plan is nothing new. NeighborWorks in Woonsocket, R.I., had done the drill many times. But now a plan that isn’t even finished is reverberating around the Constitution Hill and Fairmont neighborhoods. The key was a focus on relationships.
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'Legacy Project' Swings Indy's Super Bowl Bid
- By Elizabeth Duffrin, Feb 15, 2010
After a narrow loss to Dallas in its bid to host the 2008 Super Bowl, Indianapolis leaders regrouped and found help for a second bid in an unlikely place: the Near East Side neighborhood. By positioning the community and its quality-of-life plan as the bid's "legacy project," Indy won the bid for 2012. The successful play has leveraged more than $70 million in new investments.
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Riverfront Park Helps Mill Town Turn Corner
- By Elizabeth Duffrin, Feb 15, 2010
Five years ago, there wasn’t much reason to walk down Aleppo Street in Providence. Amid the rotting buildings of the old Riverside Mills, drug dealers and prostitutes did a steady business. The blocks surrounding Aleppo Street were a place to find trouble, not relaxation. But a recent series of collaborations has transformed the riverfront into a center of community life.
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A Neglected Neighborhood Is Standing Up
- Nov 17, 2009
In the Voice of San Diego, Adrian Florido writes about the 32 projects that are part of the Neighborhoods First quality-of-life plan for Colina Park.