WSCO Builds Community Power through Equitable Development Scorecard
For so many members of our communities, the outside forces of development and displacement often feel beyond our control. Generations of intentional policies have made the processes that shape our neighborhoods and frame our fates complicated and out of reach for the vast majority of residents. On St. Paul’s West Side, community is taking back its power through the creation of an Equitable Development Scorecard adopted by the city this year.
For Katrina Mendoza, a member of the board of the West Side Community Organization (WSCO), developing a scorecard was both personal and political. “I was seeing people that I loved, people I grew up with, being moved out because they couldn’t afford housing anymore,” she said. “I wanted there to be a way for the community to get in front of a moving process, to be proactive instead of reactive.”
In a new case study, we take a deep dive into how WSCO worked with community members, city leaders and other stakeholders over the course of several years to adapt the Equitable Development Principles & Scorecard and co-create a powerful, proactive tool for West Siders to take back agency over who benefits from development and investment in their communities.
“The Scorecard will be a positive mark for at least a generation of development on the West Side,” said West Side resident Kareem Smith. “The community and residents of the West Side have historically been treated as less-than, and that stops now.”
Download the full case study to read more about:
- Why the scorecard?
- Setting the foundation
- Making planning accessible
- Articulating development without displacement
- Engaging the community
- Working with the city
- Using the scorecard
- Sustaining the scorecard…
Plus photos, quotes, tips and a graphic outlining how West Siders are using the scorecard to make a difference in their community!
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