Tthree cities each embarked on efforts to reframe the built environment through updates to zoning guidelines. Although each outcome was unique and interesting in its own right, the unifying factor linking all three cities together was the aggressive drive to include residents as citizen planners.
Downtown St. Paul’s Penfield project, a $62 million mixed-use redevelopment effort, includes rental apartments and a full service grocery store with easy access to public transit. The financing arrangements and the “best value” contracting provisions demonstrate the creative and innovative approach undertaken by the city.
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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Basic shelter is the essential foundation of any block or street. Local zoning and land use rules are the pivot points that influence where and what kinds of housing are available. In the best circumstances, a flexible land use vision provides a broad array of housing choices to serve a myriad individual and family housing needs.
The uniqueness of a community is defined by the connections among neighbors, a commitment to shared public goods and factors such as livability – green spaces, public art, walkability, inclusiveness, and accessible services. Neighborhoods and families nurture the public virtues that connect people to a community and define their responsibilities within it.
As part of ongoing initiatives between NLC and The Home Depot Foundation, an NLC Capstone Corporate Partner, the two organizations will combine efforts to support housing programs for the nation’s military veterans, especially those who are disabled. This investment will help build NLC’s capacity to provide local officials with resources, best practices and learning opportunities focused on neighborhood-based housing rehabilitation and retrofitting initiatives addressing the needs of special populations, with a particular focus on military veterans returning from combat service and with disabilities.
