One LA leaders from Temple Beth Am played an important role in the Los Angeles Planning Commission's decision to reject a redevelopment project that would have eliminated 12 units of affordable housing in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, a desert for subsidized housing units. The proposed plan would have resulted in the demolition of 6 commercial properties and 12 units of rent stabilized housing to construct a 7-story hotel in their place.

Temple Beth Am leaders from One LA have been working with city officials to mitigate the loss of precious affordable housing.  While not opposed to the redevelopment of the area, they expressed concerns about losing housing in a neighborhood where the local city council district office had confirmed that it did not have any housing units that could benefit from the city’s linkage fee program.

Nancy Goldstone, a leader with One LA and resident of Pico-Robertson said,

“This hotel project was going to eliminate affordable housing in an area where there is very little to none. 

As a One LA leader it was important for me and our team to organize and have conversations with city officials to let them know that this project did not serve the interests or general good of the neighborhood.”

City Planning Commission Rejects Pico-Robertson Hotel Development, Urbanize Los Angeles

Omaha Together One Community wants both candidates to commit $1 million a year to the problem.

The city has 748 houses on its demolition list. On average, it costs the city about $12,000 to knock down a house -- but neighbors say it's worth every penny.

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"The people in the communities of Baton Rouge and Baker who are frustrated know what they voted for, they know what CATS promised to deliver, and they're not really seeing it," said Edgar Cage, a leader with Together Baton Rouge, the nonprofit that campaigned for the tax through churches and other institutions across the parish.

Before the tax passed, CATS leadership worked with Together Baton Rouge to develop a list of incremental deadlines they promised to meet as they built toward an end goal of a thoroughly transformed system by the first quarter of 2014...."

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After Austin Interfaith leaders took issue with a proposal that "would have allowed registered lobbyists to serve on the citizen committee that will guide the rewriting of the city's land-development code..." the proposal was pulled.

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Institutional leaders of Working Together Jackson began evaluating non-profit land trust models to help transform the Mid-City neighborhood of Jackson, Mississippi. Based on conversations with neighbors and residents, Ms. Brent, President of the Mid-City Neighborhood Association, and Rev. Tucker Sr., pastor of True Vine, identified a number of things they would like to address: abandoned housing, overgrown lots, crime, mentoring for its youth and services for its elderly. But people involved in the effort know that, as Rev. Tucker puts it, "the real work of rebuilding the neighborhood isn't cutting lawns or boarding up houses. The real work is building relationships between its residents."

While the non-profit land trust would take control of abandoned properties for rehabilitation and renovation, leaders of Working Together Jackson plan to continue the work of building relationships between neighbors.

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