Urban universities are often characterized as economic engines--directly and indirectly serving the needs of the communities within which they are situated. However, the relationship between urban universities and their neighbors is often strained. Reflecting on the University of Illinois at Chicago's Neighborhoods Initiative (UICNI) and its…

Blacks have spent much time and energy "filling other people's pockets" (as Margaret Walker has said) but have not addressed the needs of their own community. Black communities are in a state of deterioration for which the treatment must be self-help. In this paper the example of an unhealthy organism is used as a metaphor for prescribing a cure…

This is a report of the proceedings of Senate hearings on urban neighborhood diversity. Witnesses at the hearings included politicians and policy makers from various American cities. Statements from a number of individuals and committee discussion on the materials presented are included. Additional statements and data pertinent to trends in urban…

THE PROGRAM, DESIGNED TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW METHODS OF EMPLOYING YOUTHS FROM LOW- AND MARGINAL-INCOME FAMILIES, EMPLOYED 170 YOUTHS AGED 16 TO 21 IN IMPROVING AND DEVELOPING VACANT AREAS FOR RECREATION IN DECLINING NEIGHBORHOODS. THE LONGER RANGE GOALS OF THE PROJECT WERE TO ENCOURAGE THE YOUTHS TO PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR SKILLED EMPLOYMENT AND TO…

The report gives a brief history of Boston's South End, its housing situation, and the Low Cost Housing Corporation (LCHC), founded in 1965 as a nonprofit organization to provide housing for low income tenants. The rehabilitation process for brickfront row houses is described thoroughly. Details of a training program which utilized volunteers and…

This report reviews the status of poverty and makes the following recommendations for program aims and structure, and for organizational changes at the Federal level. Antipoverty programs should attack the total environment of the poor: housing, education, family stability, employment, and neighborhoods. Increased efforts must be made to reach the…

The case studies in this booklet highlight how five communities, in big cities and small towns, overcame the obstacles inherent in creating good new schools in existing neighborhoods. These studies illustrate the creativity that people across the United States have brought to the task of creating new schools in older neighborhoods. There is…

State-mandated reforms in educational practices, such as class-size reduction, have created the need for more and better educational facilities, but pressure from growth and poor planning decisions are stretching other forms of public infrastructure development to the limit and draining economic vitality from cities and towns. Current programs,…

Economic restructuring has exacerbated problems of black men such as poverty, unemployment, lowered life expectancy, and low expectations. Power diverted from productive channels is expressed in gang violence, homicide, and suicide. Recommendations include a national agency to eliminate poverty, involve the black community, and increase funding…

Study investigated the relationships among neighborhood informal social control, crime, and negative peer culture; students' sense of school coherence; and students' educational behavior. Neighborhood crime had a substantial negative effect on their educational behavior that was not mediated by a sense of school coherence. Discusses implications…

The development and operation of the Federally funded Ventures in Community Improvement Demonstration Project (VICI) and its impact on participant youths and communities are summarized in this report. VICI's purposes were (1) to provide young, minority, inner-city, high school dropouts with intensive skills training in the workplace that could…

This report contains findings and recommendations of a project to identify problems in California's policies and in the administration of its laws regarding small businesses and to examine alternative solutions to those problems. Part 1 consists of the findings of five statewide Task Forces that concentrated on these aspects of operating a small…

Crime Prevention deals with the effort to control crime and the fear of crime through a variety of community resources. Research efforts of the Department of Justice, first developed in the early 1970's, focused on increasing knowledge and understanding to promote more effective crime prevention. The National Institute of Justice has sponsored…

This paper presents the idea of formal neighborhood government as a beginning to discussion and debate. Only by clearing away the confusion over what changes are being asked for by the proponents of decentralization can the neighborhood government movement be placed in historical perspective. The justification for neighborhood government,…

This report provides a snapshot of school improvement efforts during early 2002 in several cities involved in "Making Connections," a demonstration project based on the premise that children do well when families do well, and families do better when they live in supportive neighborhoods. The project emphasizes three kinds of connections:…