Neighborhood Problems And CDC Responses

By M. Isi Eromosele

Since the 1960s, the poorest neighborhoods of New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles and many other cities have seen the withdrawal of private capital. The most obvious signs of this disinvestment are the rows of blighted properties, many abandoned by their former owners.

Disinvestment was produced by a complex mix of social and economic factors, including racial segregation and middle-class suburbanization. The physical deterioration of neighborhoods was accompanied by other changes that aggravated the downward spiral.

Left with increasingly poor residents, cities lost much of their tax base and hence their ability to provide the high-quality public services needed to sustain the flow of private capital. Economic change often meant the loss of industrial jobs in inner-city neighborhoods.

Concentrations of poverty produced a kind of social isolation of the poor that made it difficult for them to take advantage of mainstream economic and social opportunities.

As communities declined, government agencies and private foundations have pursued a variety of strategies to improve neighborhood quality through investments in housing rehabilitation, commercial district improvements, upgrades to the transportation and under-ground infrastructure, renovation of parks and open spaces, and other activities.

The aim of these community development investments was to improve the quality of the neighborhood for those who lived there and at the same time, induce outsiders to make new investments, which in turn would further improve neighborhood quality.

Most community development agencies understood that physical revitalization alone would not be enough. Poor people needed opportunities to learn job skills and find employment, and some public agencies and private philanthropies turned their attention to business development, workforce programs, and other efforts to help people seize economic opportunities.

Further, families with children needed immediate help with educational programs, supervision of children after school, and other programs to help ensure healthy and stable families. Therefore, many community development programs also included these kinds of

social investments.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President and CEO of Oseme Group.