Abstract<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Center for Urban Development Studies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design collaborated with the City of Boston on its Neighborhood Partnership Initiative in the late 1990s. The initiative aimed to restructure distressed neighborhoods and revitalize districts in Boston through community organization, the promotion of new economic activity, and housing improvements, including a redesign for Boston\u2019s main streets. Neighborhoods included Washington St\/Grove St<\/strong> in West Roxbury and Washington St\/West Roxbury Parkway<\/strong> in Roslindale.<\/p>\n\n\n Excerpt<\/p>
[Excerpt: Overview]<\/strong>
Boston, MA:<\/strong>
“Municipalities worldwide have successfully engaged community groups in structured partnerships based on joint definitions of needs and opportunities. Local initiatives programs support and encourage civic leadership and all of them involve a program of shared financial commitments that leverage public and private resources. In the case of Boston, the city and its development agencies created an array of programs to address the needs of the city’s distressed neighborhoods and utilized collaborative approaches that build upon the economic, social, and physical assets in a community.
Boston\u2019s Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) Neighborhood Partnership Initiative (NPI) is an example of a model program that worked actively with neighborhood residents and community organizations to develop coordinated plans for neighborhood preservation and housing improvements. The NPI ended in 1996 and evolved into Boston’s Main Street Program, another partnership program that focuses on the revitalization of business districts in 19 neighborhoods. In Main Streets, the city provides seed funding for a coordinator who works with a board representing local businesses and NGOs in the neighborhood.”
The Neighborhood Partnership Initiative:<\/strong>
“In the 1980s, DND redefined its role from a capital planning agency to a community development agency managing a number of diverse programs. The DND’s goal was to strategically invest resources to build up the strength and vitality of neighborhoods and work directly with community-based organizations to coordinate and implement public improvements, housing, open space, and youth social programs. The Neighborhood Partnership Initiative grew out of a review of existing programs working at the neighborhood level that were not having their desired impact and the realization that DND needed to develop a more focused strategy for allocating scarce public resources.”
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