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    1. Overview: What We Fund
    2. Strengthening Neighborhoods & Building Communities
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    3. Strengthening Neighborhoods & Building Communities
      1. Queen City in the 21st Century: Buffalo's Comprehensive Plan
      2. Blueprint Buffalo: Regional Strategies and Local Tools for Reclaiming Vacant Properties in the City and Suburbs of Buffalo
      3. Urban Ecosystem Analysis, Buffalo-Lackawanna
      4. Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America
      5. Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older Industrial Cities
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      8. Baby-Boom Retirements and Emerging Labor Market Pressures
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    5. Community Health & Medical Research
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      7. Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda for Rebuilding America's Older Core Cities
      8. Economic Benefits of Land Conservation
      9. Artists’ Centers: Evolution and Impact on Careers, Neighborhoods and Economies
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      5. The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits
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    8. Knowledge Source March-April 2011
    9. Knowledge Source Jan-Feb 2011
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Home > What We Fund > Strengthening Neighborhoods & Building Communities

Strengthening Neighborhoods & Building Communities

Refurbished victorians line Elmwood.

Allentown...the Parkside area...the Elmwood strip. These and many other neighborhoods are among our region's strongest assets. The Buffalo Niagara region is an area steeped in pride and filled with a large sense of community.

In recent years, economic and demographic changes in our region have challenged the core of our social fabric. In order to improve the region’s economic vitality and overall quality of life, it is important for us to invest in our neighborhoods and local communities and to take a multi-disciplinary approach that works across sectors to achieve common goals.

Desired outcomes of our Strengthening Neighborhoods and Building Communities focus area include:

  • Higher occupancy rates with more residents in stable-housing situations
  • Fewer vacant properties and lots in the region
    For more information on Strengthening Neighborhoods & Communities, visit our Knowledge Management Library.
  • Stronger commercial districts with increased opportunities for neighborhood-based employment
  • Increased engagement of neighborhood residents
  • More neighborhoods adequately mapped and surveyed

Here's how we plan to accomplish these outcomes...

  • Identifying and replicating effective national neighborhood revitalization models
  • Identifying “pilot” neighborhoods and partners
  • Supporting comprehensive neighborhood revitalization programs/strategies 
  • Convening meetings to build trust and make connections among organizations
  • Support for collaborative efforts within and across sectors
  • Support of community-level leadership training efforts
  • Supporting efforts to engage local residents and increase their ability to influence the decisions affecting their lives
  • Supporting community organizing efforts