The impact of sustainable mobility may be considered through the mode of non-motorization, which may vary by spatial environmental conditions, especially accessibility by active mobility in a necessarily safe, comfortable, and pleasant atmosphere. Sustainable mobility comprises willingness to allow commuting behaviors on non-motorized travel for…

This article documents how an MSW student in an introductory community practice course took her class assignment and over the course of two years revitalized, democratized, and transformed a sclerotic, corporate-run Home Owners Association (HOA). While the community analysis assignment required the student to interview six of her neighbors, the…

This article analyzes a Participatory Action Research (PAR) Project focused on improving public safety and community lighting in one Latinx immigrant community in California as a case example to better understand the possibilities for university-community-government partnerships. The article explores residents' motivations for their sustained…

In the late-2000s, Washington, DC achieved national notoriety for its embrace of market accountability in public schools and support for a steadily expanding charter sector. At the same time, the DC government pursued a concerted effort to attract new residents and investment to the city, a project that bore fruit in the form of some of the…

Why are many urban universities' relationships with their surrounding communities fraught despite university efforts at community engagement? Relationships between the factors underlying university-driven neighborhood change remain largely unexplored. In this article, I take the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) as a case study and examine the…

There is broad recognition that anchor institutions--universities, hospitals, and other locally embedded organizations--can leverage their economic and human resources to revitalize and empower distressed neighborhoods. In Milwaukee, five anchor institutions, including Marquette University, collaborated with residents, city officials, and other…

What do people need to learn to engage actively in social action for neighbourhood improvement or development? How important is emergent learning relative to planned learning in this context? Where does first-person knowledge fit into the body of knowledge required for success in bringing about change for the better in neighbourhoods through…

Amid high teacher turnover in disenfranchised neighborhoods, teachers who were raised in, live in, and teach in these neighborhoods demonstrate unwavering commitment to their students. Eight teachers from a major metropolitan city in the United States participated in 45--60-minute platicas to discuss the joys, challenges, and needs of teaching in…

Urban policymakers, city officials, and community residents utilize neighborhood revitalization initiatives to establish safe and empowered neighborhoods. In 2016, leaders in Columbus, Ohio, launched a neighborhood revitalization effort designed to improve safety, access to opportunities, and economic development in the historically underserved…

This dissertation in practice examines the absence of an advocacy framework for Black placemakers in southwest Springfield neighborhoods seeking to transform vacant spaces into vibrant pocket parks, green spaces, and community gardens. This critical community-based participatory research addresses inadequate public policies, resources, and…

The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI), launched in 2010, provides funds for public housing authorities and other local entities and aims to redevelop distressed housing projects and transform the neighborhoods surrounding them into "mixed-income, high opportunity communities." From its inception, the CNI has included a strong focus…

Purpose: To equitably transform urban schools of color and the neighborhoods where they are nested requires approaches that promote community equity and foster solidarity among a range of stakeholders. However, most school-community approaches solely focus on improving school-based outcomes and leave educational leaders with little guidance for…

By purchasing abandoned facilities and transforming them into vibrant hubs for culture and education, community colleges are fulfilling one of their key missions: revitalizing their communities. But these types of projects can be fraught with challenges as well. Here's how Austin Community College (Texas), Manchester Community College…

After the 2008 housing loan crisis, many houses were foreclosed/abandoned in Michigan, and specifically Grand Rapids (GR). Our study provides a collaborative and scalable model for collecting parcel-level housing data, in a southeast GR neighborhood within 15 U.S. Census Blocks. Grand Valley State University Geography faculty and students…

In this article, a layered conceptual framework for "place-based school reform" is presented as a way to link the concept of school reform and neighborhood development. Because many universities have been involved in community-school-university partnerships, the university community engagement literature will be connected to this…