The essays in this collection promote a conception of community development that entails building practical capacities to improve the quality of life among residents of targeted neighborhoods. The causes, consequences, and potential solutions of urban problems that lie both inside and outside neighborhood borders are emphasized. The chapters are:…

This book analyzes the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI), which demonstrates how comprehensive community development efforts can be effectively organized to help preserve working class neighborhoods. The NPI is a comprehensive community building initiative active in 10 neighborhoods within nine cities. Its approach is to catch places…

The nature of youth gangs is explored, with suggestions for gang prevention and intervention. The emphasis is on organizing citizens, especially at the neighborhood level, to affect all community institutions. Suggestions are offered for citizens' groups to look at critical areas in schooling, incarceration, law enforcement, community programs,…

Metropolitan land use change, with a specific focus on the processes of participation and conflict over neighborhood development, is discussed. The resource paper is part of a series designed to supplement existing texts and to fill a gap between research and accessible materials in geography. Part I deals very generally with the implications of…

Presented in this book are studies of social projects for economically disadvantaged inner-city youth engaged in neighborhood revitalizations in low-income communities around the country. Children and teens are highlighted as they participate in nonschool initiatives to achieve economic and political self-determination coupled with personal…

This text presents the results of a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the development and activities of the Six School Complex, a group of schools in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Complex was organized in 1975 to cope with population shifts by increasing the number of neighborhood children attending public schools, to broaden and improve the…

What is being done at a local level, in the neighborhood, to prevent and discourage small-time drug dealers is discussed. Partnerships of law enforcement and grassroots citizens' groups are working in many places to reduce the availability and impact of drugs in their communities. The book opens with a discussion of drug use and the urban…

This collection of papers shows the significant achievements that can be made through collective strategies that empower the poor to become active partners in revitalizing their neighborhoods. The 12 chapters are: (1) "The Role of Social Capital in Combating Poverty" (Mark R. Warren, J. Phillip Thompson, and Susan Saegert); (2) "Social Capital and…

What makes some neighborhood organizations sanctuaries for inner-city youth is examined in this attempt to explain why some organizations are resources that enable youth to survive the harsh realities of everyday urban life in America. The first chapter contrasts the grim expectations for urban youth with the sense of the hopeful future expressed…

This book is directed at the following audiences: adult educators and others who are either involved in or desire to become involved in community-based work; students of education, the social sciences, or related disciplines who desire information on community involvement as a career or means of fulfilling civic responsibilities, and persons in…