The findings and recommendations of a study of potential opportunities to convert under-utilized space in multiple residential projects into play spaces for children are reported. On the basis of site visits, informal interviews and discussions with management from a selected and representative sample of 18 residential projects in the Toronto…

In many Canadian multi-family residential environments there is often a lack of sheltered space for recreation, other than the dwelling unit, where children can play in inclement weather and engage in those kinds of activities which usually cannot take place in the home. (Such activities include those that are too noisy, too messy, too large to…

The Hartford project, an experimental effort to reduce residential burglary, street robberies, and fear of those crimes in an urban residential neighborhood, is described. Its most distinctive feature is its integrative approach in which police, community organization, and physical design changes were used to increase the willingness and ability…

Describes the activities of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in which student volunteers work as organizers with low income neighborhood groups to help them deal with economic and political issues. Includes ACORN state offices and a community organizer job description. (MF)

Blacks who bought homes in a suburb of Washington, D.C., were considerably less politically active than whites who gentrified the central city, in spite of the fact that both groups were well educated and middle class. Neighborhood conditions, perception of racial relations, and previous place of residence were important predictors of…

The problems of cities influence the amount of state aid which is given. More aid is allocated in states with needier cities. Reformist political climates have also helped to gain state allotments for distressed cities. The record of states in this matter is better than that of the federal government. (VM)

Environmental factors are vitally important in affecting a child's educational achievement; compensatory education for disadvantaged children can succeed only when the child's family and neighborhood become closely identified with the values and aims of the school. (JD)

The potential of the community development corporation (CDC) as a vital component of inner-city development politics is explored and its limitations are outlined. In some neighborhoods, nonprofit CDCs have helped build an alternative social production process and have advanced a new and progressive development regime. (SLD)

Recognizes the unused potential of inner city kids and describes how The Institute for Leadership, Excellence and Academic Development (I-Lead) program has helped prepare these students for admittance to universities and colleges. I-Lead offers four core courses: (1) test prep class; (2) constitutional law class; (3) writing class; and (4)…

For nearly three decades, the environmental justice movement has attracted thousands of activists, scholars and ordinary citizens to mobilize on behalf of communities that have been overburdened with hazardous waste sites, petrochemical plants, incinerators, lead contamination, polluted air and contaminated drinking water. In many cases, activists…

Community gardens fulfil many roles, including the reclamation of public space, community building, and the facilitation of social and cultural expression. This paper discusses a nexus between research and education for sustainability that evolved out of an examination of the role of community gardens in fostering community development and…

Participants were recruited from the Police Department and from residents of Syracuse, N. Y., for 20 weekly sessions of four five-week blocks; a steering committee of police personnel, residents, and a coordinator planned the training sessions to build human relations skills and responsibility on both sides. (AJ)

This paper examines the attempts to rebuild downtown Detroit. Two models for redevelopment are examined: (1) the use of private sector investment as exemplified by the Renaissance Center Complex; and (2) the "solidary neighborhood" model, which involves the use of community labor and participation. The "Renaissance model" of…

BURP, The Boston Rehabilitation Program, is described and analyzed in this monograph published by the Joint Center for Urban Studies. Its purpose is to provide an independent analysis of BURP as a political, economic, and social event. Examination is given to the nation's first effort to carry out large-scale residential rehabilitation in blighted…