Guides & Tool Kits
NLC's action guides, action kits, and city practice briefs provide city leaders with helpful information in a concise format to help them address various topics of concern to their communities. Each guide identifies a common local challenge, outlines strategies and a menu of action steps for cities to consider, and highlights effective city practices and other resources. NLC's toolkits offer more in-depth, step-by-step guidance to help local elected officials and senior municipal staff implement promising approaches to key local problems.
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Managing Foreclosures and Vacant Properties (2012)
City leaders play a key role in working with national, state, local and non-profit partners to help residents keep their homes and help communities cope with the ongoing effects of the foreclosure crisis. This guide offers solutions for the challenges that cities and city leaders face in dealing with foreclosures: preventing vacancies, preventing deterioration, rehabilitation and re-use and demolition.
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Public-Private Partnerships for Transportation Projects (2012)
Public-private partnerships, or PPPs, are increasingly becoming a viable financing alternative for local governments as they look for ways to fund their infrastructure projects. In the past, the private sector was limited to separate planning, design or construction contracts but now their role has been expanded to allow public agencies to tap private sector technical, management, and financial resources in new ways. Public-Private Partnerships for Transportation Projects is a new municipal action guide that describes PPPs, specifically for developing transportation and transit projects. It looks at the some of the common structures used for transportation financing and development, the benefits and risks, strategies for effective implementation, and real-life examples which detail successes as well as challenges.
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Resilient Cities in a Transforming State: A Snapshot of Local Action in Michigan (2012)
This report on resilient cities focuses on the responses carried out by local actors in Michigan in communities adversely impacted by job and real property losses during the last decade. The examples, reflections and experiences were gathered during a Leadership Forum, which brought together federal, state and local decision makers. The three major themes that are woven into this report are inclusive community engagement, capable local leadership and cross-cutting partnerships. The lessons from the experiences in Michigan will serve as models for other communities struggling with similar challenges.
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Supporting Entrepreneurs and Small Business: A Toolkit for Local Leaders (2012)
The importance of entrepreneurs and small businesses has been a central theme in discussions of the national recovery. On the local level, city leaders understand first-hand the importance of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Entrepreneurs and small businesses: create new jobs and employ local residents; play a pivotal role in creating a unique sense of place that enhances a community’s quality of life; and in a more footloose, global economy, homegrown businesses may have deeper roots than those gained through attraction strategies. This tool kit examines the question: How can local governments support entrepreneurship and small businesses? To encourage entrepreneurs, local governments need to examine how they can contribute to an entrepreneurial eco system by tackling efforts within city hall and partnering and connecting with external stakeholders.
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Positive Crossroads: Mexican Consular Assistance and Immigrant Integration (2012)
Mexico's consular network is the largest and most extensive of any foreign government in the U.S. For the last twenty years, and especially since 2003, with the creation by a presidential decree of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME), the Mexican Consulates have fostered and developed programs and initiatives to assist, educate and help Mexican citizens living in the U.S. This report highlights a selection of successful practices developed by the Mexican Consulates with their local partners, including local governments, school districts, public libraries, faith-based organizations, police departments and the private sector.
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City Examples in Civic Engagement
As part of NLC's extensive work on democratic governance and civic engagement, we have assembled a collection of promising practices in cities across the country. These examples represent the variety of programs and partnerships that can be used to encourage citizens to become more engaged in their communities and provide them with the opportunities to do so.
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Planning for Stronger Local Democracy (2011)
As a culmination of NLC’s work over the last decade responding to the challenges of governing democratically, NLC’s democratic governance project has published Planning for Stronger Local Democracy: A Field Guide for Local Officials. This tool kit, made possible with support from the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, is designed to assist officials in strengthening local democracy by cultivating transparency and inclusivity with citizens and key allies with shared responsibilities and mutual accountability for addressing and solving problems.
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Strategies for Globally Competitive Cities: Local Roles in Foreign Direct Investment and International Trade (2011)
While the majority of local leaders feel that expanding global economic linkages is critical to competitiveness, many communities are not engaged in efforts to support these linkages. Much of this disconnect can be attributed to local leaders not knowing how to connect their communities to the global economy, and a lack of information available about their potential roles. The purpose of this guide is to provide practical tools, resources and promising practices to facilitate local action. In particular, the guide focuses on foreign direct investment (FDI) and international trade — two areas in which local leaders can have a true impact in their roles as catalysts, conveners and connectors.
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Sustainable Connections: Strategies to Support Local Economies (2011)
Economic health and prosperity is a defining component of sustainability. Yet until recently the conversation surrounding sustainability efforts has focused largely on issues of environmental protection and too often presumed to be in competition with, or otherwise tangential to, economic growth. This guide presents five components often associated with sustainability – green space, community design, complete streets, food access and green buildings – that also benefit the local economy and in so doing, may enhance regional resiliency and the ability of cities to compete in the global marketplace. This publication has been made possible through a grant from Wells Fargo.
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Healthy People, Healthy Places – Building Sustainable Communities Through Active Living (2011)
The ways in which we shape our built environment—including the range of transportation options, provision of open space, and accessibility to places of work, education, or basic services—contributes to the physical health of our communities by either restricting or facilitating opportunities for physical activity, recreation and community interaction. Local leaders play an important role in promoting public health through creating the conditions for individuals to incorporate healthy options into their daily lives. This guide explores several ways that cities are incorporating options to promote active living and emphasize the multiple connections to sustainability principles.
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Guides and Toolkits Library
A recent history of the Guides, Toolkits, and City Practice Briefs from teh National League of Cities.
