A Sense of Belonging
By: Reimagining The Civic Commons
Tags: Cities, Engagement, Diversity, Art, Equity

It takes intention to connect people to the public realm in meaningful and inclusive ways. Today, in reports from four Reimagining the Civic Commons cities (Detroit, Chicago, Akron and Memphis), we learn about making those connections to encourage people from all backgrounds to feel a sense of belonging in public space. That sense of belonging is supported by revitalizing the built environment in ways that work for current users and change old perceptions to welcome others into shared space. These teams have found success in creating a sense of belonging through local hiring, through art and through strengthening the physical pathways for connection.

A public-realm-first approach to equitable neighborhood redevelopment

Ella Fitzgerald Park in Detroit. Image credit: Bree Gant.

In Detroit, the civic commons is at the heart of a comprehensive neighborhood reinvestment initiative centered in Fitzgerald, a residential and commercial neighborhood located about 9 miles northwest of downtown. Even before the pandemic, Fitzgerald had suffered a dramatic economic decline over decades, with high unemployment and a high proportion of vacant homes, vacant lots and abandoned commercial buildings. The Detroit team — which includes members from across the public and non-profit sectors — has spent the past five years taking a coordinated approach to transforming vacancy into community assets, including the creation of a neighborhood park and a greenway, and supporting a robust commercial corridor with a new community-oriented storefront space alongside locally-owned businesses. This work is supported by people-first streetscape improvements, alongside public and private investments in housing stabilization and rehabilitation.

The focus has always been on developing all assets in an equitable and inclusive manner, engaging local residents in the work and ensuring that benefits accrue to nearby neighbors.

For example, during the development of Ella Fitzgerald Park, the Detroit team worked with local non-profit The Greening of Detroit, an urban forestry-focused organization that gives local Detroiters workforce training and jobs in landscaping. By hiring nearby residents for jobs to clear and maintain vacant lots in preparation for the park, the project has both reinforced ongoing engagement with the neighborhood and given the area an economic boost. For two summers, a crew of eight residents worked to care for vacant properties in the neighborhood and cleared all of the residential alleys.

The team has since expanded the scope of their workforce strategy, developing a transitional work program that uses this neighborhood-based landscape work to get to scale, with a focus on returning citizens who face multiple barriers to employment. Instead of hiring for full-time seasonal crews, program participants spend four days working on maintenance in the neighborhood, and a day a week in training, receiving wraparound and educational support, or job coaching with the goal of placing them in a full-time position over the course of several months in the program, whether this position in the landscaping field or beyond. Program partner the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) estimates that this transitional program could impact over 100 participants over the next three years, using neighborhood-based work as a stepping stone and resume builder in service of their careers.

Maintenance in action in Detroit. Image credit: Alexa Bush.

Creative redevelopment of the nearby commercial corridor on McNichols Road (also known as Six Mile) has also been key. The McNichols corridor was nearly vacant of businesses and most buildings were boarded up when the collaboration started in 2016. There was no natural space for the everyday activity of neighbors meeting neighbors, and the important local organizing for change that neighborhood leaders do. The team realized one answer was HomeBase — an abandoned retail space reimagined as a community meeting hub and a place to interact with local government and civic organizations. As more organizations and businesses have opened on McNichols, the city is also in the process of upgrading the streetscape to better support storefront businesses by including all modes of travel: improved sidewalks, safer pedestrian crossings, a separated cycle track, lighting, newly-planted trees and street furnishings.

Along with workforce development, the team found a variety of different ways to engage and compensate residents directly for their contributions, from training and paying residents to conduct surveys within their own neighborhood, to a successful microgrant program that supported resident-driven programming and assets throughout Fitzgerald.

Prioritizing a high-quality public realm is showing promising results in the Fitzgerald neighborhood. Public perceptions of Fitzgerald have improved as new storefronts open and vibrant public life increases throughout the neighborhood. The cross-silo approach in Fitzgerald has been so successful, it is serving as a model for equitable redevelopment in nine other neighborhoods across the city.

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