By Dr. Tiffany Manuel (@DrTiffanyManuel) All across the country, there is an explicit public conversation going on about gentrification and displacement. While such topics have been fodder for debate and analysis in academic circles, they are not ones that typically lead the nightly news or play out in contentious PTA meetings. Today, however, that’s exactly […]

Chicago is many things—a global city, a city of neighborhoods, a “City on the Make”—and also one of America’s most segregated cities. While the region creates 200,000 jobs a year, the unemployment rate among black Chicagoans is more than three times higher than that of white residents and one-and-a-half times higher for Latinos. Life expectancy […]

By Mariia Zimmerman Displacement of local residents, business, and culture has emerged as an increasingly common challenge among the regions in the Strong, Prosperous, and Resilient Communities Challenge. In late 2018, representatives from the six SPARCC sites and the SPARCC national team came together to elevate the crisis of displacement, to explore the drivers of […]

A formal assessment by the Center for Community Health and Evaluation (CCHE) takes a look at SPARCC’s mid-initiative progress, with trends aligning with a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s (FRBSF) community development research team, Testing our Hypotheses. Read the full CCHE report here. Much like the FRBSF’s findings, this report: Highlights […]

The Strong, Prosperous, and Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC) has a bold mission to change the way regions grow, invest, and build. The initiative kicked off two years ago as a partnership across a range of funders and nonprofit organizations from across the country to create new approaches to equitable regional development, focusing on three areas […]

by Lara Hansen and Marissa Ramirez A community organization in Los Angeles recently identified a crucial need for public spaces that provide a place for residents to cool off, while not increasing greenhouse gas emissions that would make it even warmer. Temperatures have already risen in Los Angeles by 1.5°F over the past century and […]

By Stephanie Gidigbi, Sasha Forbes, and Marissa Ramirez The Strong, Prosperous, And Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC) has collaborated with LOCUS Developers on a National Opportunity Zone Report that highlights the social equity and vulnerability of designated opportunity zones with key recommendations for public and private sector leaders. The report identifies which Opportunity Zones are positioned […]

By Sasha Forbes More U.S. households are headed by renters than at any point since at least 1965. In fact, renters have become the majority in almost a quarter of the nation’s 100 most populous cities. In Memphis, that number is as high 58 percent and in Chicago, 51 percent. Renters in the U.S. are […]

SPARCC is a bold, ambitious initiative to change the way communities shape the built environment to reduce racial disparities, build a culture of health, and prepare for a changing climate. The initiative’s long-term goal is to change the way regions grow, invest, and build to benefit all residents, and do not replicate past policies practices […]

By Stephanie Gidigbi The Systems Change Guide explores several key SPARCC concepts and approaches to advance systems change. It spotlights regional efforts and serves as a guide to actualize systems change from theory to reality. It also includes an appendix of tools & resources to assess and prioritize systems change activities. Research shows that place […]