Our Mission

The goal of our neighborhood initiatives is to work with residents and stakeholders to build a model of neighborhood development that is capable of transforming distressed neighborhoods into great places to visit, live, work and raise a family. As we forge successful approaches to neighborhood development, those programs and activities will be replicated in other parts of the city and region, beyond the initial neighborhood. The Center for Urban Studies (CENTER) functions as a catalyst agent that works to redevelop distressed communities and to create systemic changes that will make our efforts sustainable.

The CENTER seeks to build a model of neighborhood development through four practices. First, the CENTER uses a collaborative approach by breaking down silos and working across sectors to cultivate a team with which neighborhood organizations can implement community development strategies. Second, the CENTER encompasses the transformation of the public schools as the core of redevelopment strategy and seeks to create learning communities supportive of a cradle-to-college-to-career approach to education. Third, the CENTER uses research to inform, evaluate and continually improve its practical work. Fourth, the CENTER seeks to create sustainable linkages between the university and distressed communities. Universities are ideally suited as anchor institutions and leaders in the transformation and regeneration of distressed urban communities as well as to create a pipeline between education and the community development process in America’s cities.