ben s bernanke : creating resilient communities speech by mr ben s bernanke, chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the “ resilience and rebuilding for low - income communities : research to inform policy and practice ” federal reserve system community affairs research conference, washington dc, 12 april 2013. * * * i am pleased to join you for the eighth biennial federal reserve system community affairs research conference. the work you are doing here – sharing research and exchanging ideas on how best to further the development of low - income communities – is vitally important. as this year ’ s theme, “ resilience and rebuilding, ” reflects, low - income communities were particularly hard hit by the great recession. 1 and, while employment and housing show signs of improving for the nation as a whole, conditions in lower - income neighborhoods remain difficult by many measures. for example, an analysis by federal reserve staff reveals that long - vacant housing units tend to be concentrated in a small number of neighborhoods that also tend to have high unemployment rates, low educational levels, and low median incomes. 2 while some of these neighborhoods are in the inner cities, others are in suburbs. this analysis and others like it illustrate the close interconnections of housing conditions, educational levels, and unemployment experience within neighborhoods. moreover, as this work confirms, poverty is no longer primarily an urban phenomenon but has increasingly spread to suburban areas, many of which lack the social and community development services needed to mitigate poverty and its effects. 3 the implications of these trends for community development are profound. successful strategies to rebuild communities cannot focus narrowly on a single problem, such as the physical deterioration of neighborhoods that suffered high rates of foreclosure. rather, progress will require multipronged approaches that address housing, education, jobs, and quality - of - life issues in a coherent, mutually consistent way. moreover, strategies will have to be adapted to meet the special circumstances of urban, suburban, and rural settings. as community development researchers and practitioners, you are confronting the challenge of effectively attending to the needs of both individuals and communities – of people as well as places. the evolution of community development community development has a long history of innovation and learning from experience. notably, after decades of large - scale, top - down federal efforts, it became increasingly apparent that a one - size - fits - all approach did not serve local communities well. the urban renewal programs of the 1950s and 1960s were perhaps

income housing at sufficient scale to change the housing and income characteristics of the neighborhood ; ( 2 ) the opportunity to create one or more schools accountable to parents and the community ; and ( 3 ) civic and business leadership that is prepared to create and support an organization charged with coordinating the necessary partnerships and seeing through the long - term plans. as those involved in this effort note, the purpose built strategy is quite different from that of most other bodies whose decisions affect community development. 8 for example, city governments rarely organize around neighborhoods. school boards, housing authorities, and transit systems all make decisions critical to the health of neighborhoods, but they generally act independently of city government. moreover, the goals of such bodies are not typically measured in terms of the health of neighborhoods in any holistic sense. this mindset may be changing, however. for example, los angeles recently adopted a community - based approach to strategic planning. its five - year consolidated plan recognizes that no single program or effort is likely, on its own, to lift families out of poverty or reduce crime in a neighborhood. rather, the plan calls for a multifaceted approach to “ build healthy communities by integrating community, economic, and housing development investments for statistics cited in this paragraph, see pp. 177 – 78 in franklin and edwards, it takes a neighborhood ( pdf ), in note 6. see franklin and edwards, it takes a neighborhood ( pdf ), in note 6. bis central bankers ’ speeches with transit opportunities to increase their positive impact on neighborhoods. ” 9 it also recognizes the need to build the city ’ s institutional capacity so that it can effectively coordinate these efforts. to that end, the mayor created the housing and community development cabinet, which is composed of representatives from city departments from housing and transportation to health, family services, and economic development. the cabinet will be responsible for identifying neighborhoods for coordinated investment across sectors. perhaps one of the most promising new partners in community development is the healthcare sector. factors such as educational attainment, income, access to healthy food, and the safety of a neighborhood tend to correlate with individual health outcomes in that neighborhood. because these factors are linked to economic health as well as physical health, health - care professionals and community development organizations are seeing new opportunities for cooperation in low - income communities. for example, public health specialists and housing leaders are working together in seattle to reduce the incidence in low - income homes of allergens that can cause or aggravate asthma. because asthma results in