Place Matters

Joining here to help us understand why we are where we are is Dr. Jessica Trounstine, Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. Professor Trounstine studies the process and quality of representation in American democracy, focusing on how formal and informal local political institutions generate inequalities. She has served as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice, city governments, and various community organizations; and serves on numerous editorial and foundation boards. Listen in as we discuss her most recent award-winning book, Segregation by Design: Local Politics and Inequality in American Cities.

Urbanist, author, and scholar Alan Mallach joins us here to talk about neighborhood change. Alan is a senior fellow with the Center for Community Progress in Washington D.C and has worked with, among others, the Brookings Institution, the Federal Reserve, and Rutgers University. He is a leading voice in how poverty and prosperity are connected to the places in which we live. Listen in as we discuss his most recent book, The Changing American Neighborhood, which explores the role of neighborhoods in American society and the challenges they face today.

We need a renewal of our thinking about what we call poverty. If we want to understand disadvantage better and therefore be better suited to create real solutions, we need to put the center on places, instead of on people. Joining us to help reframe our thinking, is Dr. Kathryn J. Edin, professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs. She specializes in the study of people living on welfare. Her reporting has been cited as essential material for understanding the lived experience of poverty in America. Recently Dr. Edin and her team were contacted by RWJF to research poverty from the lens of place. The result of that work is the book we are talking about, The Injustice of Place.

Listen in for a thoughtful discussion with Dr. Richard Kahlenberg, professorial lecturer at George Washington University's School of Public Policy and Public Administration. Author and editor of 18 books, Dr. Kahlenberg is an authority on housing segregation, teachers' unions, charter schools, community colleges, and labor organizing. Today we are talking about his book Excluded, which is an examination of how zoning laws are being used to promote opportunity for some and perpetuate disadvantage for others. We explore the importance of neighborhood equality and the impact of neighborhood segregation. We discuss the benefits of diversity in neighborhoods and the losses associated with neighborhood segregation.

Joining us is Victor Luckerson, the author of a book that tells the origins and wonders of the Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His book, Built from the Fire, is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the power and importance of our historically Black neighborhoods and in learning how to protect and preserve their place in our cities. Victor is a journalist whose work has appeared in Time magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wired, and Smithsonian.  The conversation explores the themes of community support, carrying the torch of change, understanding the shaping of communities, recognizing neighborhoods as living ecosystems, and gratitude. Listen in as we talk about the neighborhood that refused to be erased.

In this conversation, Andre Perry discusses the causes and impact of home valuation disparities in black neighborhoods. He shares his motivation for this work, rooted in his upbringing and experiences. This discussion explores the importance of investing in people and place, the role of community involvement in development, the value of black women in leadership, and the significance of being part of a movement.

In 2017, the book "The Color of Law" hit the shelves and quickly went viral exposing how racial segregation in our communities is not a matter of personal choice, but a matter of government-enforced and funded mechanisms. As important as the book is, thousands of us asked, “What now? If this is the nature of the problem we face, how in the world do we move toward a more just and equitable future?” The answer to those pleas is now here! Richard and Leah Rothstein have teamed up to release the must-read follow-up entitled Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law. Listen in as Leah and Shawn discuss the long-term nature of community organizing and the importance of intentional efforts to perpetuate and sustain change.

Listen in as Shawn chats with Dr.Dan Immergluck about the design complexities in cities like Atlanta. Dan is the author of over 100 scholarly articles and 5 books that focus on housing, race, neighborhood change, gentrification, segregation, real estate markets, and urban political economy. Listen in as we talk about his research in one of his recent books, Red Hot City: Housing, Race, and Exclusion in Twenty-First Century Atlanta. This conversation highlights missed opportunities in Atlanta's development and the need for more equitable approaches. We explore the impact of corporate investment on Atlanta's housing market and the role of federal and local policies in increasing inequity and solving neighborhood problems for equitable and thriving communities.

The Atlanta Beltline is a 22-mile transit greenway that is changing both the physical form of the city and the decisions people make about living there. The vision for this city-transforming project came from a master's thesis project at Georgia Tech in 1999 from a student named Ryan Gravel. Ryan was captivated by how cities could become more human-centered and less car-centric. He has a creative eye to see how we can repurpose existing infrastructure to make neighborhoods places of connection, vibrancy, and social and economic vitality. Do we want the kind of cities we have grown to accept as status quo? What is our vision for the kind of places we want and deserve? 

What would it mean to put the lens of place on how we judge the health and effectiveness of our Economic Development efforts? What if it is not just about jobs or services or tax revenue? What if the purpose of Economic Development was to create neighborhoods of vibrant social connectivity, pride in neighborhood identity, and accessible opportunities for people of all income levels to grow personally and professionally while increasing the wealth and well-being of all? In this episode, we are talking about the future of Historic South Atlanta's economic development by comparing and contrasting some common models of economic development with the place-based mindset FCS brings to the work.   

We are thrilled to give you an inside look at our local businesses by introducing you to the amazing people who run them each day welcoming customers and ensuring we remain deeply connected to the neighborhood. This week we are focusing on Community Grounds, our neighborhood coffee shop, and cafe FCS opened to create a local third space - a safe, welcoming environment for neighbors to connect, belong, curate neighborhood identity, and care for each other. Listen in on two of our leaders at Community Grounds: Carlissa Woodruff who is the Kitchen Lead and Brittley Pearson our Barista Lead. Not only are they employees and leaders, but they are also residents of Historic South Atlanta.

We are especially excited to give you an inside look at our local businesses by introducing you to the amazing people who run them each day welcoming customers and ensuring we remain deeply connected to the neighborhood. Hear an inside look inside Carver Market, the neighborhood grocery store FCS opened in 2016 to end a food desert and catalyze an oasis of connection.  This is an eye-opening conversation with two of our leaders at Carver Market, Michelle Thomas who is the Shift Lead, and Sherry Pyburn our Grocery Lead. Not only are they employees and leaders, but they are also residents of Historic South Atlanta.

 A disproportionate percentage of food deserts are majority Black and brown neighborhoods. One of the things we have found is that, ironically, large, chain grocery stores with their expansive parking lots do more to perpetuate food deserts than to solve them. So what do we do? How can we create right-size grocery stores in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty where they are most needed?  We are excited to share with you a conversation with one of the key partners that has made Carver Market possible, Jimmy Wright. Jimmy runs a local grocery store in Opelika, AL called Wrights Market which is doing the same kind of innovative and restorative work in his neighborhood.

How do we bring about economic vitality in places designed to not experience it? Well, to be honest, most of the time we have to find hacks to make a way out of no way. Whether it is breaking up a food desert, launching a cafe, or setting up a hub for entrepreneurs and small business owners, we are often creating innovative hacks that work against what is, for the sake of what it should be.

FCS has a mantra on the walls of our office - “We can do hard things.” This is there because just about everything we do is profoundly difficult. And it is challenging because the systems and structure were built to create the conditions we are trying to reverse. In our previous episode, we made the case of doing economic development at the scale of the neighborhood - being of, with, and for the neighborhood. Before we get into the nuts and bolts of how it does work, we felt it honest and important to start with how it *doesn't work. There are sizeable barriers that you will face if you choose to join us on the path of holistic neighborhood development.

FCS has chosen to work in historically Black and brown neighborhoods that are experiencing the concentrated forces of inequity. All too often, deliberately disadvantaged neighborhoods, get blamed for the conditions that are out of their control. And, at the same time, the solutions being devised don't include them either. This is painfully obvious when we look at the way our cities think about economic development. Most of the systems and strategies we are using are creating problems, not solving them. FCS advocates that ending inequity and promoting prosperity means getting our economic scales adjusted to the unit of the neighborhood. What might it mean to change the paradigm and begin the pursuit and practice of neighborhood economics?

In this special series of Place Matters, we have been exploring the relationship of congregations to their local context. We have made the case that, for churches, place should matter too. Any understanding of a thriving congregation is incomplete if it does not include caring well for our neighbors and neighborhood. We partnered with the Barna Group to put some data behind this. For this conversation to have any credibility, of course, we must engage a more inclusive and representative audience of leaders. So, we have been talking to our friend, the Rev Dr. Alvin Sanders, President and CEO of World Impact, about some similar research he and his team have done with Barna to engage Black and brown pastors who are serving in lower-income, majority-minority neighborhoods. World Impact is an organization that exists specifically to offer training and equipping for church leaders working in lower-income, urban communities. So what did Alvin and his team discover when they asked about the role of congregations in the neighborhood? Are there signs of hope here? And if so, what can majority culture churches learn to close the church-to-neighborhood gap?

Within the ecosystem of a city, what is the function of congregations? Are they just there to serve the needs of the members or should they play a role in contributing to the health and vitality of the city, or, at least, the neighborhood the church inhabits? The Leadership Foundation is a growing global network of faith-based leaders and organizations from over 40 member cities. Leadership Foundations believes that if we can change our cities, we can change the world. And this change starts with relationships.  So how do they go about inviting their members from Dallas to Delhi into place-based impact? We are excited to have Lee Kricher from Pittsburgh, Oliver Rishmond from Chattanooga, and Dave Hillis from National speak about the work of churches in impacting their cities. Listen in as one of our Lead Consultants, David Park, discusses the methods the Leadership Foundation is using to help churches engage in place-based work.

FCS is a grateful recipient of the Lilly Endowment Inc Thriving Congregations grant. Through our partnership with Lilly we have been launching 2-year, place-based cohorts that we call City Shapers. City Shapers is inviting churches to build and participate in multi-sector, collaborative tables that are working to bring about flourishing in the disadvantaged neighborhoods of their city. We are doing this because FCS believes that part of being a thriving church is being connected to your neighborhood and participating in efforts that aid its well-being.  As a part of this grant, we have also been doing some research in partnership with The Barna Group, a Christian research organization that provides data and insights on trends affecting faith, culture, and ministry today. Surveying over 400 church leaders we have been looking at the connections between the traditional metrics of church health with community engagement, poverty relief, and justice. So, what do you think the surveys revealed? How much impact does neighborhood engagement have on our perception of the health of churches?

Guided by faith, driven to love neighbors, and committed to the role of the church, many of our team have struggled through the complications of leading churches into the world around them to participate in redemptive work. Every one of our stories emerges from different Christian traditions, different contexts, different membership sizes, and different budget constraints, but we have had many similar experiences when calling the church to love their neighbor and neighborhood. 

If we are convinced that loving your neighbor and your neighborhood is a nonnegotiable part, of what it means to be the church, how do we get there? How do we mobilize the church for place-based engagement? 

If you believe that the church should be embedded in your neighborhood, how do you know how to do that or what to do once you are?  There are leaders, practitioners, scholars, and advocates around the globe who are struggling with this same thing. And even better news is that some resources and organizations exist solely to help you navigate that challenge.  Joining us today are two of our friends and colleagues from The Parish Collective, a global network whose simple mission is to connect people to the church in the neighborhood. Jose Humphreys III is the author of Seeing Jesus in East Harlem: What happens when the churches show up and stay put, and Tim Soerens is the author of “Everywhere You Look: Discovering the Church, Right Where You Are”.  His co-authored first book “The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches Transform Mission, Discipleship, and Community  Listen to my colleague, David Park, and I talk to two men who've given their lives, calling, and careers to reminding churches that place matters.

Does loving your neighbor mean you have to love your neighborhood? For the church to enter into the full work of following Jesus, we believe place matters. In this episode, we are talking to our good friends, colleagues, and clients - Dave Burger and Peter Hough. Peter and Dave are two congregational leaders in Alton, IL - a small, post-industrial, river town. Peter and Dave are the city catalysts who have been working with FCS to lead a City Shapers cohort in Alton. These guys exhibit so many of the qualities for what it means to personally love your neighbor but to also invite your congregations to love your neighborhood. Listen in as one of our Lead Consultants, David Park, talks to Peter and Dave about the necessity, challenges, and possibilities of being a place-based church. 

Join us, as we explore the relationship between community engagement and the church. What's the relationship between church and neighborhood? Is there a gap? 

With the massive population shifts and the renewed investment in urban development, we are faced with a very real and pressing challenge of having enough housing - especially enough housing that is affordable to individuals and families across the economic spectrum. For those of us in the industry, it can feel overwhelming and the picture can seem bleak at times. However, there are so many courageous and creative people working to innovate and expand how we work for justice and equity. Three of those people joined Shawn on this episode to discuss the future of housing: FCS President, Jim Wehner; CEO of Purpose Built Communities, Carol Naughton; and CEO of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, Alan Ferguson Sr.

When it comes to housing, it doesn't matter how strategic your plans are, how much experience you have, or how well-resourced you are, there will always be market forces, neighborhood realities, and local policies that are out of your control. What worked for the last 5 years may be detrimental to the neighborhood if repeated in the next 5 years. As FCS is looking at our own changing context, there are a few pivots and innovations that are shaping our next steps. Join Shawn as he talks about these innovations with Jim Wehner, Marvin Nesbitt, and Danielle Clay.

Housing is hard work. From the cost and complications of acquisitions, to the challenges of sustainable development, to the complexities of the market, housing is not for the faint of heart. But, just getting houses built and made affordable is not the whole story. Ensuring that individuals are housed in ways that lead to flourishing people and places, means we have to care deeply for the people to ensure they have all the support necessary for succeeding in place. Joining Shawn to talk about how we care well for those who buy and rent from us are two of the rock stars on the FCS Mixed-Income Housing team - Shell Stafford, our Family Services Manager, and Ashely Edwards, our Resident Services Manager.

It is common to hear people talk about the housing crisis facing our cities. What is less common is to hear people talking about one of the main reasons we are facing this crisis - exclusionary zoning, which creates a level of restriction resulting in low supply despite soaring demand. One crucial way to not only meet the volume of the demand but to address affordable access also is by promoting more multi-family housing (and the zoning changes that would allow for it). This is not without significant controversy, though. There are many fears supported by myths about the impacts of multi-family housing. Joining Shawn to talk about why multi-family rental is actually good for everyone is FCS Senior Director of Community Development, Marvin Nesbitt, and special guest, Jim Brooks, Purpose Built Communities' VP of Housing and Community Development.

Founded in the late 19th century, South Atlanta was a thriving Black mixed-income neighborhood with Black businesses, churches, and other institutions that fostered a strong fabric of connection and belonging. As years of disinvestment harmed the neighborhood, many of the single family homes went vacant and eventually blighted. At FCS, we quickly realized that if we were going to partner with this place to produce a flourishing neighborhood, we were going to get into the work of buying, rehabbing, building, and selling single family homes. In today's episode, Shawn is joined by Cynthia and Marvin to discuss the many things we have learned by entering into the beauty and challenge of single family housing.

Gentrification is a word that has lost its context, simply coming to mean that the wealthy are getting nice, new things built for them and legacy residents, who are disproportionately lower-income people of color, are getting displaced. Their history and legacy are getting replaced one coffee shop and brewery at a time. This narrative makes headlines, but is it the story that is actually playing out? FCS has said that a healthy mixed-income strategy can do development without displacement. But is a mixed-income approach just a new term for the same traumas being visited upon historically Black and brown neighborhoods? Join Shawn Duncan in conversation with Jim Wehner, Joi Jackson, and former South Atlanta neighbor, Lisa Haygood.

In the midst of rapidly gentrifying cities, people often ask us what can be done to stem the tide of rising costs and the displacement of legacy residents. As welcomed as more retail, nicer parks, and better infrastructure are for neighborhoods that have been historically denied these basic things, they are often evidence that longer-term, lower-income residents will soon be pushed out and that all this new development wasn't done with them in mind anyway. So what do we do? For us, the answer lies in a having a robust acquisitions strategy. In today's episode, Shawn will talk through the FCS acquisitions strategy with Jim Wehner, Marvin Nesbitt, and Cynthia McNeal.

When people visit us in Atlanta to see up close and personal what our holistic neighborhood development work looks like, they're often struck by the volume, quality, and complexity of housing that we are working on. As of today, in Historic South Atlanta alone we have completed construction on about 200 single family homes and 100 multi-family units. But we didn't start out with a plan that far reaching. So where did it all begin? How did we get here? Join us for the next episode in our series on Mixed-Income Housing for a deep dive into housing at FCS throughout the years. Shawn is joined in conversation by President of FCS, Jim Wehner, and Director of Mixed-Income Housing, Cynthia McNeal. 

It is no secret that the United States is in the midst of a housing crisis. It is all but impossible to find quality housing that is affordable and located in healthy neighborhoods. This is not just a challenge for those living below the federal poverty line. Working adults from a wide array of ages and incomes are struggling to secure housing. But what if thinking about housing alone is not the solution to the nation's housing crisis? At FCS, the big idea behind how we approach housing is a belief that the crisis we are facing is not actually a housing issue; it's a neighborhood issue. Joining Shawn Duncan for this first episode is Jim Wehner, President of FCS; Marvin Nesbitt, Senior Director of Community Development at FCS; and Cynthia McNeal, Director of Mixed-Income Housing at FCS. Throughout this season, you'll get to hear more about FCS's approach to housing in the past, present, and future.

There are a lot of great books, articles, and maps about the impact that place and neighborhood can have on life outcomes. An area that is lacking, however, is the crucial role that social-relational connections plays in repairing the fabric of a place. For this final episode of our series on Neighborhood Engagement, we are excited to share with you a conversation between Shawn Duncan and Seth Kaplan - author, lecturer, and leading expert on fragile states. 

Our training and consulting team has the pleasure of traveling the country to meet people doing inspiring work in their communities. In this episode, you'll get to meet some of those people: Darian and Yolanda Colbert from Cohesion Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania. We're so excited to share the conversation they had with David Park about what deep-dive, people-centered work looks like in their context. We hope it inspires you the way it inspired us!

Proximity, neighboring, and relationships are at the core of what we do at FCS. We think natural, unhurried relationships without an agenda are deeply important. We also believe in the power of structure and intention to move toward collective efficacy. But how do you build collective efficacy? This happens through something called relational organizing, a practice we'll introduce to you in today's episode.

So far in this season, we've told you a lot about the "why" of neighborhood engagement. In this episode, we want to get into the "what" of neighborhood engagement! We'll explore the programs FCS is involved in, as well as the partnerships we maintain. We hope this gives you a better understanding of what sorts of things might work in your neighborhood, and who you could try and connect with.

Some of the most significant work that we do at FCS is small, quiet, and often goes unnoticed outside of the neighborhood. One of those crucial works is walking alongside children and teenagers. In this episode, we'll talk with three people engaged in youth development at FCS: Michelle Witherspoon, Mikayla Santos, and Joel Barber. Their passion for building community among youth in South Atlanta inspires us each day, and we hope it does the same for you.

These days, there are thousands of resources available on how to become a great leader. However, the resources are pretty thin if the context of your leadership is not an organization or business, but a place. Being a place-based leader often comes without a title, authority, or compensation. Instead, being a place-based leader has to do with the quality of one's character and their commitment to coalition-building. In today's episode, Shawn discusses what it means to become a place-based leader, alongside returning guests Stacy Brungardt, Stephen Causby, and Pamela Stringfield.

In this week's episode, we'll continue our discussion around the importance of social cohesion when it comes to holistic neighborhood development. If you haven't already listened to last week's episode, "Sense of Place and Neighborhood Connectivity," we recommend starting there. We are excited to get into the conversation surrounding the last two of the four indicators that define social cohesion: civic infrastructure and credible leadership. This episode features lead consultant Stephen Causby, and Tanisha Corporal -- a South Atlanta neighbor, Civic League co-chair, and member of the FCS Senior Board. 

In this next episode focused on Neighborhood Engagement, we'll focus on the importance of social cohesion when it comes to holistic neighborhood development. The strength of connectedness people share with one another is a vital factor that contributes to neighborhood health. We are excited to get into the conversation surrounding two of the four indicators that define social cohesion: sense of place, and neighborhood connectivity. This episode features none other than Director of Neighborhood Engagement at FCS, Pamela Stringfield, and former Executive Director of FCS, Katie Delp. 

We're excited to release the first episode for season 2 of Place Matters! This season, you'll hear all about one of the pillars of FCS: Neighborhood Engagement. In this first episode, we'll introduce the "big idea" of Neighborhood Engagement. Join Shawn and Pamela in a conversation about why we do Neighborhood Engagement, and why we think proximity is a non-negotiable in holistic neighborhood development.

For the final episode of season one of Place Matters, we're excited to bring you a conversation between Shawn Duncan and two influential members of the Atlanta community: David Edwards, who is the Neighborhood Policy Advisor to current Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, and Shirley Franklin, who served as the 58th Mayor of Atlanta. They'll discuss these critical questions: How can cities begin to place neighborhoods as the center of their plans for growth and change? What does it take to make cities places where all people have the chance to thrive?

Next up in our Foundations Series, Shawn and David discuss a core question - what is a flourishing neighborhood? How do you define it, and how do you measure it? Measuring success in poverty alleviation is not as simple as you might think. So where do we begin?

This episode will explore the intersection of race and poverty. Though it is dangerous to conflate race with poverty, there has been a history of disinvestment and high poverty rates in black and brown neighborhoods that demands our attention. Because of this, the pursuit of racial equity must be at the center of everything we do. Join us for a conversation around why racial equity is more than just a priority for FCS, and in holistic, place-based work.

This episode is the fourth installment in the Foundations series, which will look at the foundational values, principles, and processes that make FCS uniquely FCS. In this episode, we'll take a look at two of the core values that drives the mission of FCS: neighboring and dignity. You can find our discussion of the third value, development, in last week's episode.

This episode is the third installment in the Foundations series, which will look at the foundational values, principles, and processes that make FCS uniquely FCS. In this episode, we'll take a look at one of the core values that drives the mission of FCS: development.

This episode is the next installment in the Foundations series, which will look at the foundational values, principles, and processes that make FCS uniquely FCS. In this episode, we'll talk about why we believe that neighborhoods are the unit of change.

In this episode, Shawn Duncan and David Park discuss the "big idea" that makes FCS -- well, FCS! When it comes to addressing chronic material poverty, we might have the right answer, but we've been asking the wrong question. To create real change, it might be time to ask something different.