Pratt Center for Community Development

Forum on Building the Blueprint

A Blueprint Begins to Emerge.

One City / One Future is a collaboration that arose in 2004, when three organizations -- New York Jobs with Justice, the Pratt Center for Community Development, and the Brennan Center for Justice -- began convening civic, labor and community groups across the city to talk about accountable development. These were groups involved with specific development projects (such as the Kingsbridge Armory and the Greenpoint Williamsburg rezoning) as well as specific issues (such as the Solid Waste Management Plan and inclusionary zoning). Discussion quickly turned to the need to reshape economic development policies responsible for dramatically widening inequality among New Yorkers. In 2005, the three groups conducted outreach to dozens of organizations to begin developing a framework for economic development based on accountability for government spending and actions, an equitable distribution of investments in neighborhoods, and strategies for bridging the income gulf, Through a series of workshops in 2006, over 150 staff and members from 100 groups developed a set of six principles for economic development.

Those principles are now forming the basis of a Blueprint for Economic Development, to be released in 2008.

Throughout 2007, organizers and advocates convened working groups examining policies affecting housing, jobs, workforce development, the environment, economic security and social infrastructure. From more than 250 recommendations, participants narrowed their focus to roughly 40 core economic development strategies.

Getting Feedback

On November 29, 2007, more than 150 advocates, planners, scholars, organizers and concerned citizens filled the Murphy Center for Labor, Community and Policy Studies to discuss the Blueprint's proposed strategies to make economic development expand opportunity and quality of life for New Yorkers, building a more equitable city through accountable public processes.

"Building the Blueprint" sought feedback and input on the proposed Blueprint and its strategies, grouped into three areas of action:

• Invest for shared growth.
• Set higher standards.
• Reform the process.

For more details on the proposed strategies, please contact the Pratt Center.

The Discussion

Participants broke into small facilitated groups to discuss the proposed policy strategies. Overall, participants agreed with the message of the presentation and found it an accurate depiction of the struggles faced by New Yorkers. The data on wage disparities resonated, as did the message that the kind of development we are seeing now is not inevitable but the result of policies and practices. Many participants said that it could have been enlivened with personal stories or case studies. They also advised focusing more on the middle class in addition to the poor, and showing how a polarizing economy affects the middle class. In discussion of the goals and messaging, participants in many groups discussed race. There was a general consensus that gentrification, displacement and the role of race all need to be addressed in a more straightforward way by One City/One Future.

One of the main themes that kept coming up was education. Participants felt that education is essential to workforce development and to many of the problems addressed by One City/One Future, and that it should be included in the strategies. Health care and child care were also mentioned in nearly all the groups, often discussed as job supports that need to be in place. Along those lines, groups discussed the potential for showing how development affects a child growing up. Some suggested focusing on youth development along with workforce development.

Participants agreed with most of the goals and strategies as important vehicles for policy reform, though with suggestions on ways to clarify the goals. Strategies for planning reform provoked intense discussion, as groups debated different ways to bring citizens and communities into the development planning process. Some participants felt that community boards should be empowered with legislative authority; others suggested a kind of "report card" to check up on the city after a community board meeting; and others discussed completely changing how community board members are chosen. One group noted that "The process should serve the community instead of the community serving the process." Groups wrestled with the tension between neighborhood- and city-wide interests in the planning process. Green-oriented strategies also elicited a lot of discussion. The groups talked about how to strengthen PlaNYC, and how to integrate environmental concerns and goals with those around affordable housing and economic diversification.

Eighty participants also submitted written feedback. Participants expressed concern the public facilities were not part of the economic development vision, including greater use of school buildings for the community. Commenters repeatedly stressed the need for accountability to the public -- from the government especially, but also for employers benefiting from public subsidies. Participants expressed differing opinions on inclusionary zoning, some supporting a mandatory policy, and others saying that the policy increases the cost of housing. Participants also identified small business retention as an important issue usually in the context of preserving the local mix of retail establishments in a neighborhood.

Next

One City / One Future will issue its Blueprint for Redefining Economic Development in early 2008. To get involved and for more information, contact Carrie Brunk at Jobs With Justice, [Sorry, display of this email address requires a Javascript-aware browser, in order to deter spam. Please use the general contact page instead.].