"This book explores the promise and limits of bottom-up, grass-roots strategies of community organizing, development, and planning as blueprints for successful revitalization and maintenance of urban neighborhoods. Peterman proposes conditions that need to be met for bottom-up strategies to succeed. Successful neighborhood development depends not only on local actions, but also on the ability of local groups to marshal resources and political will at levels above that of the neighborhood itself. While he supports community-based initiatives, he argues that there are limits to what can be accomplished exclusively at the grassroots level, where most efforts fail"--Back cover.

Neighborhood planning programs involve citizens in developing plans and self-help projects for their neighborhoods through local organizations. They also assist residents in reviewing projects developed by city agencies. Based on a survey of fifty-one neighborhood planning programs and in-depth case studies of Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston, St. Paul, Wilmington, N.C., and Raleigh, Planning with Neighborhoods offers the first comprehensive description and evaluation of the effectiveness of these programs. Moving beyond theory, this study reviews the actual accomplishments and limitations of neighborhood planning programs and offers specific recommendations for designing a successful program. Included are a thorough history of neighborhood planning programs and an examination of the social, political, and planning theories that support their existence. Eight propositions on the benefits of a neighborood-based approach to planning are derived from this theory and evaluated on the basis of actual experience with this type of program. Speaking to both academics interested in neighborhood issues and planning practitioners, Planning with Neighborhoods concludes with recommendations for establishing effective neighborhood planning programs and improving existing programs. Originally published in 1985. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Honorable Mention, 2003 Paul Davidoff Award presented by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Renewing Hope within Neighborhoods of Despair builds upon narratives provided by leaders of community-based development organizations (CBDOs) to describe how they bring about affordable, quality housing, commercial opportunities, and employment within poor areas. The book illustrates both the obstacles CBDOs face and how these obstacles are overcome, in part by leveraging resources for social change projects from foundations, government and intermediaries. Guiding the effort of the developmental activists is an organic theory that explains what can and should be accomplished. The material extends new institutionalism models of inter-organizational behavior.

Since the 1950s and the advance of urban renewal, local governments and urban policy have focused heavily on the central business district. However, such development has all but ignored the inner-city neighborhoods that continue to struggle in the shadows of high-rise America. This analysis of urban neighborhoods in the United States from 1960 to 1995 presents fifteen essays by scholars of urban planning and development. Together they show how urban neighborhoods can and must be preserved as economic, cultural, and political centers.

American cities are increasingly turning to revitalization strategies that embrace the ideas of new urbanism and the so-called creative class in an attempt to boost economic growth and prosperity to downtown areas. These efforts stir controversy over residential and commercial gentrification of working class, ethnic areas. Spanning forty years, Latino City provides an in-depth case study of the new urbanism, creative class, and transit-oriented models of planning and their implementation in Santa Ana, California, one of the United States’ most Mexican communities. It provides an intimate analysis of how revitalization plans re-imagine and alienate a place, and how community-based participation approaches address the needs and aspirations of lower-income Latino urban areas undergoing revitalization. The book provides a critical introduction to the main theoretical debates and key thinkers related to the new urbanism, transit-oriented, and creative class models of urban revitalization. It is the first book to examine contemporary models of choice for revitalization of US cities from the point of view of a Latina/o-majority central city, and thus initiates new lines of analysis and critique of models for Latino inner city neighborhood and downtown revitalization in the current period of socio-economic and cultural change. Latino City will appeal to students and scholars in urban planning, urban studies, urban history, urban policy, neighborhood and community development, central city development, urban politics, urban sociology, geography, and ethnic/Latino Studies, as well as practitioners, community organizations, and grassroots leaders immersed in these fields.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Acknowledgments and How to Cite -- Introduction -- Part I: Why Is Community-Based Planning Important? -- 1. The Collapse of Place: Derelict Land, Deprivation, and Health Inequality in Glasgow, Scotland -- 2. Co-benefits of Designing Communities for Active Living: An Exploration of Literature -- 3. Why We Need Urban Health Equity Indicators: Integrating Science, Policy, and Community -- Part II: Citizen Engagement in Land-Use Decisions -- 4. Owning the City: New Media and Citizen Engagement in Urban Design -- 5. Urban Ecological Stewardship: Understanding the Structure, Function and Network of Community-based Urban Land Management -- 6. Planning Office and Community Influence on Land-Use Decisions Intended to Benefit the Low-Income: Welcome to Chicago -- 7. A Structured Decision Approach for Integrating and Analyzing Community Perspectives in Re-Use Planning of Vacant Properties in Cleveland, Ohio -- Part III: Tools for Community-Based Urban Planning -- 8. Development of Future Land Cover Change Scenarios in the Metropolitan Fringe, Oregon, U.S., with Stakeholder Involvement -- 9. The Use of Visual Decision Support Tools in an Interactive Stakeholder Analysis-Old Ports as New Magnets for Creative Urban Development -- 10. Between Boundaries: From Commoning and Guerrilla Gardening to Community Land Trust Development in Liverpool -- 11. The Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program: The Environmental Protection Agency's Research Approach to Assisting Community Decision-Making -- Keywords -- Author Notes -- Index