Inclusive Economic Development

Creating jobs and investment with policies and programs that work and are financially and politically feasible requires new evidence-based approaches. May 8 is helping to replace status-quo policies that have dominated economic development playbooks with innovative solutions to grow an inclusive economy where all residents benefit.

The Kensington Corridor Trust:  The First Four Years

This City Case explores the first four years of the Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT), a neighborhood trust started in 2019 with the mission to acquire and redevelop real estate on Kensington Avenue, a disinvested commercial corridor in a low-income Philadelphia neighborhood and place it into long-term community control to preserve affordability while building neighborhood power … Continue reading The Kensington Corridor Trust:  The First Four Years

Philadelphia Equitable Development Platform 2023

PACDC’s Equitable Development Policy Platform offers 22 recommendations to lay the foundation for a thriving and inclusive future for Philadelphia that benefits all communities, all residents and all workers. Over 100 community leaders and residents were interviewed to identify 22 recommendations that fall into six categories: Quality of Life, Inclusive Communities, Anti-Displacement, Housing, Economic Development … Continue reading Philadelphia Equitable Development Platform 2023

Cortex Innovation District: A Model for Anchor-led, Inclusive Innovation Released

The Cortex Innovation Community, located in the Central West End of St. Louis, is ranked as one of the top five innovation districts in the world. Founded in 2002 and built within a blighted 200-acre former industrial area, the district generated $2.1 billion in economic output for the St. Louis region in 2018. In February … Continue reading Cortex Innovation District: A Model for Anchor-led, Inclusive Innovation Released

Cincinnati’s Over-The-Rhine A Private-Led Model For Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods

Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine A Private-Led Model For Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods is the first in a series from the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University. Bruce Katz, Karen Black and Luise Noring created this City Case to share a detailed description of the turnaround of the once-blighted, downtown-adjacent Over-The-Rhine neighborhood through the City’s use of a … Continue reading Cincinnati’s Over-The-Rhine A Private-Led Model For Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods

Stronger Together: The $12 Billion Impact of Community Development Corporations in New Jersey

Stronger Together tells a clear, data-driven story about just how effective New Jersey’s community development corporations (CDCs) are. Econsult Solutions provided the data analysis and May 8 Consulting worked with the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey to tell CDCs story in a new way – not as a group of small community … Continue reading Stronger Together: The $12 Billion Impact of Community Development Corporations in New Jersey

Taking Care of Business

Improving Philadelphia’s Small Business Climate Taking Care of Business recommends nine specific actions the City of Philadelphia should take to improve its business climate. Based upon interviews with over one hundred small business owners, non-profit and government leaders, the report begins by asking why small businesses are important to the City’s economic growth, who small … Continue reading Taking Care of Business