Wednesday, November 01, 2006
In Albany, NY, the City is dealing with a real challenge in many older industrial cities: neighborhood Community Development Corporations (CDCs). Originally designed to help revitalize neighborhoods, CDCs can be useful allies as inner city neighborhoods try to adjust to new economic realities.
At the same time, CDCs can slow down innovation. In too many circumstances, they have become "gatekeepers" for their neighborhoods. Focused on their territory, they jealously guard their turf, and, over time, become slow to change. In this situation, they become another costly part of a city's "social overhead".
Here's an article on the situation in inner city Albany, NY. Read more.
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
CDCs in Albany
