How Cincinnati Salvaged the Nation's Most Dangerous Neighborhood

Huge numbers of students lack the chance to go to college because of financial problems. Recently, Kalamazoo schools received more funding allowing them to have the chance to help and pay for students to then go to college and receive a higher education.

One-third to half of those killed by police are disabled, a recent report says. “Our problem isn’t with police,” one mental health advocate says, but both sides say officers need more training.

Portugal has gone perhaps the farthest in decriminalizing drug use. It hasn't stopped drug usage, but it has reduced deaths, the spread of H.I.V., drug crime, and imprisonment.

An ambitious plan for the 69-acre Regent Park neighborhood is disrupting entrenched notions of class, race and religion, at a time when concerns over income inequality and immigration are growing.

Many young Latina women live their lives in fear of gang violence. The Montgomery County Street Outreach Network rescues girls in danger and offers services to them in order to help them change their chances of success.

The Anacostia, which has long been one of the most polluted rivers in the country, has been given a new lease on life, thanks to cleanup efforts and a recent sewer upgrade in D.C. Since water quality has improved, there's been renewed interest in waterfront recreation and development. Now local groups are working to mitigate displacement from gentrification, with some success.

Investments into the arts serve as significant economic catalysts. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, legacy foundations like the Heinz Endowments, Benedum Foundation, and Richard King Mellon Foundation pooled their resources to create the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which supports art and culture in the city’s downtown districts. By purchasing and refurbishing existing real estate, as well as lending support to smaller initiatives like the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, PCT’s investments have served as an engine of growth for the city.

Mosaic Development Partners (MDP) seeks to create wealth for the black community in Philadelphia by providing affordable housing and creating opportunities in neighborhoods that are considered risky investments for typical real estate companies. The black-owned company has created housing as well as retail opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses who historically have a harder time accessing capital and loans. The company is mission-driven but operates on a for-profit model, finding economic solutions for systemic problems that have kept black communities from creating generational wealth.

In order to attract and sustain pollinators, communities in Ohio and Wisconsin are resorting to a more "unkempt" approach. In Mansfield, Ohio the community started planting "butterfly and pollinator gardens" in various areas of the city, as well introduced new mowing patterns which include mowing less areas and letting some areas overgrow. In Appleton, Wisconsin, the city council has instituted "No Mow May" during which "communities suspend the enforcement of their long-grass rules for the month, allowing property owners to delay lawn care as a way to promote pollinator-friendly habitats."

It turns out the old adage of knowing your neighbor really can help make your neighborhood safer. A study of more than 250 cities found that a key factor behind a drop in crime in the last 20 years was the mobilizing of citizens by nonprofit organizations like block clubs. In Milwaukee these “urban guardians” have helped bring communities together and foster safer spaces that also address urban blight.