Beginning with the foundations of community development, An Introduction to Community Development offers a comprehensive and practical approach to planning for communities. Road-tested in the authors’ own teaching, and through the training they provide for practicing planners, it enables students to begin making connections between academic study and practical know-how from both private and public sector contexts. An Introduction to Community Development shows how planners can utilize local economic interests and integrate finance and marketing considerations into their strategy. Most importantly, the book is strongly focused on outcomes, encouraging students to ask: what is best practice when it comes to planning for communities, and how do we accurately measure the results of planning practice? This newly revised and updated edition includes: increased coverage of sustainability issues, discussion of localism and its relation to community development, quality of life, community well-being and public health considerations, and content on local food systems. Each chapter provides a range of reading materials for the student, supplemented with text boxes, a chapter outline, keywords, and reference lists, and new skills based exercises at the end of each chapter to help students turn their learning into action, making this the most user-friendly text for community development now available.

Applying lessons from the success of community banks, Kirk S. Bowman and Jon R. Wilcox develop and implement a new model that significantly raises philanthropic efficacy. Their straightforward and rigorously tested approach calls for community members to take the lead while outside partners play a supporting role.

The advent of the Reagan administration's "New Federalism" initiatives in 1981 impacted state government in numerous ways. One example of this new era in intergovernmental relations is the transfer of responsibility of the Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to state governments. This volume provides an overview of the Small Cities CDBG program, an analysis of its politics, and an examination of the grant award processes established by the states. It concludes with an assessment of the consequences of state assumption for program activities, outcomes, and administration. Assessing the program transfer within the context of theories and practices of intergovernmental relations and policy execution, the book provides rich contextual information and a thorough comparison of implementation activities and outputs in seven states.