Neighborhood Stabilization Strategies and Best Practices

By Dawn Larzelere. As a follow up to the Ohio Housing Conference, NeighborWorks and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland co-sponsored a one-day workshop on strategies and best practices around neighborhood stabilization.  I was asked to lead a discussion group on how community development organizations can navigate the new political landscape that we will be working in next year.  Several suggestions were discussed that I thought you might find of interest as well:

1. Consider reframing the need for strong community development programs in light of the new political realities.  We need to show how community development directly impacts economic development.  We need to showcase and openly discuss why business should care about strong neighborhoods and healthy communities.  Also, whenever possible, we should bring business on board to help push for the policy changes we are advocating.
2. Remain open to engaging new partners regardless of past stances on issues or partisan politics.  Winning political battles requires diverse and sometimes unexpected partnerships and when you look past old issues you will often find alignment in overall goals.
3. Show how your work impacts individual legislative districts.  In fact consider pulling together an annual report customized to individual state and federal legislators showing the amount of government funding received, the return on that investment as showcased by the amount of private development it leveraged and finally the number of constituents you impacted.
4. Invite legislators to groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings and open houses regardless of their political stances.  These events allow legislators to feel good about the investments that have been made in the community.
5. Continually cultivate relationships with your major neighborhood, city and state players and keep abreast of political issues affecting your organization and the constituency base you serve.  Understanding the motivations and  being able to capitalize on relationships at the appropriate time is key to success in an political issue.

The Ohio Housing Conference

By Dawn Larzelere. This week I participated in the Ohio Housing Conference and moderated a session on Wednesday that dealt with how land banks can help reshape urban landscapes.  Special thanks to a great panel that included Peter Ujvagi (Lucas County Administrator and bill sponsor of the legislation that expanded county land bank authority to 41 additional counties), Gus Frangos (President of the Cuyahoga County Land Bank), Donna Hunter (Columbus Land Bank), and Russell Berusch (Case Western Reserve University and President of Berusch Development Partners).

For ninety minutes we were able to not only educate the audience but ourselves as well on the importance of this tool as we deal with issues in our urban cores, including declining population, surplus housing, and environmental issues.   Thanks to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing for putting on such a great conference and including sessions such as this one to showcase the good work that is going on in Ohio and how it could be replicated not only in other counties in Ohio but across the country as well.