NFG Jobs Toolbox. Chapter 1: Introduction

NFG Jobs Toolbox: A Funder's Guide to Jobs

Why a Neighborhood Focus?

Because concentrated joblessness and high welfare caseloads affect some communities more than others, this Toolbox embraces a neighborhood - or place - focus. We believe this focus will be useful to grantmakers as they develop employment and economic development initiatives. Why? First, a neighborhood strategy implies a targeted approach which benefits residents of certain communities or types of communities. Second, to the extent that all grants made in a given community share common implementation issues, a neighborhood focus may also suggest certain program designs.

But do not assume that a neighborhood focus means an intra-neighborhood solution to jobs issues. Regional, and even national, trends profoundly influence the economic situation of any neighborhood, and points of intervention are nearly always related to these larger trends. All of the strategies described in this Toolbox are system-wide approaches, that do not operate exclusively on the neighborhood level.

Neighborhood Imperialism vs. Independence

While this system-wide approach seems logical, earlier attempts to address jobs and economic development took a different tack. In the 1960s and 1970s, many community activists viewed neighborhoods as semiautonomous economies. Job strategies largely focused on developing jobs within the neighborhood to employ neighborhood residents and developing businesses to be owned and managed by neighborhood residents. Using a theory of economic imperialism, the neighborhood was seen as a dependent colony. The strategic imperative was to create a community-controlled economy generating jobs, products, services, investment opportunities, and wealth for residents.

The popularity of the neighborhood imperialism model has declined for several reasons. First, because of differences in land use, buildings, transportation and other location-related factors, neighborhoods vary considerably in their ability to create jobs. Some neighborhoods are primarily or exclusively residential and have little job creation potential. Others have industrial corridors, major institutions, office buildings or commercial strips which can support job creation. These factors largely determine how many and what types of jobs can be created in a given neighborhood.

In addition, most people do not work in the neighborhood in which they live; they commute. Finally, in many metropolitan areas, most new job creation is taking place in outer suburban rings, while poor neighborhoods tend to be located in the central city or inner suburbs. Similarly, job growth in rural areas tends to be geographically clustered, not distributed uniformly. The best neighborhood job strategies take a dual approach:

Intra-Neighborhood Job Development: Capitalizing on existing employment opportunities in the neighborhood and, whenever possible, developing new jobs in the neighborhood.
Extra-Neighborhood Job Access: Identifying strong employment opportunities in the city or regional economy and developing mechanisms for neighborhood residents to access those opportunities.

These two approaches are complementary methods, not competing ideologies. Grantmakers often choose strategies that integrate both.

Why Connect Neighborhoods and Jobs?

Jobs funding that targets low-income neighborhoods (urban, rural or suburban) can have a wide range of additional beneficial effects on these neighborhoods and their residents:

Creating jobs within the neighborhood assists workers with child care or other caretaking responsibilities.
Locating programs (such as employment and training) within the neighborhood means residents have convenient access to services.
Advocating public investments in a particular neighborhood strengthens infrastructure and long-term economic well-being.
Supporting community-based organizations or strategies also develops grassroots leaders; strengthens community-based organizations (financially or through capacity-building)' and builds stronger constituencies and political power.

At the same time, a neighborhood-based approach can also lead to better program design:

By allowing community-based planning processes or other forms of community input to help shape the program design;
By designing investments and programs specifically suited to meet neighborhood needs; and
By sponsoring programs through neighborhood-based organizations with sound track records and positive relationships with community residents.

Resources

Giloth, Robert P., ed. Jobs and Economic Development: Strategies and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998.

Wilson, William Julius. When Work Disappears. New York: Knopf, 1996.

See Resources section for additional information.

<< Previous Page	Jobs Toolbox Index
Back to NFG Home Page.