Resident-led Planning

When it comes to neighborhood revitalization, particularly with neighborhoods where revitalization historically happened to them rather than with them, the planning team should not be the face of the effort. Residents, both new and old, can and should be not only at the front of the effort but an integral part of both the client and consultant team. They should hire (and, when necessary, fire) the consultants, supercharge community outreach, and lead the meetings and presentations. While for many, this will be driven by passion and volunteerism, for others, it will be a job, and they should be compensated. All the while, they are building the organizational muscle memory to be proactive implementers and benefactors of the growth they end up shaping. 

We believe that growth can and should happen with a place, not to it. As such, we have pioneered the practice of Resident-led Planning (Y).  Another way to think about it is that we are largely invisible in the process, a technical advisor and booster for the real builders and changemakers in the community. As advisors, we bring at the right time and place our full complement of services to support community organizing, visioning, planning, and implementation. Because the doing-capacity and credibility are growing alongside the planning, we can avoid the plan-to-shelf phenomenon that predominates the planning industry.

We have seen this work in a wide range of contexts, from redlined Black neighborhoods in north St. Louis to flood-ravaged small towns in America’s breadbasket to commercial street revitalization here in Cincinnati. 

Is your revitalization process falling flat or are there concerns about what it will take to inclusively grow a neighborhood? It might be time to take a different path.