Feed the neighborhood : a recipe for neighborhood rejuvenation

Abstract

There are neighborhoods right in the heart of a city that seem dead and forgotten. The inhabitants of the city steer clear of these neighborhoods. I believe many people perceive these places to be beyond repair. Yet, there are a few individuals who have seen potential in the forgotten neighborhood and were able to revive them. In most cases they did it with minimal investment coupled with a belief that it could be done. A true underdog story. The questions I aim to answer are: How were these neighborhoods turned around? What are the attributes and characteristics they all share? Essentially, what is the secret sauce to reviving a beat up neighborhood? I believe it is important to study those people that have successfully revived more than one neighborhood, because, if you have done it more than once then it is not a fluke and we should pay special attention. We focus on two men, Tony Goldman and Joe Englert. They are responsible for the successful rejuvenation of seven neighborhoods. My goal in writing this is to give others confidence that a neighborhood can be revived and give them a path to do so.