Ask a Community Development Question, or Answer One

Community Development tradeoffs 
What happens when conflicts arise between the policy makers and some of the community members, such as the community thinking jobs is more important than ...

Small southeastern rural town future 
I'd like to know your views on small rural towns (pop. 2500 or less) futures, in re-identifying themselves and developing a sustainable economy based historical ...

City Involvement 
We are a small suburban city and what is the expectation of a Mayors involvement in a CDC? Do Mayors, Council, Directors get involved and at what level....

Why is zoning important 
I'm curious about why zoning is important in small cities. Wouldn't people make good decisions by themselves without zoning laws?

Editors' Reply: Land ...

Are gun buy-backs a good program for crime prevention? 
Our city council woman thinks that a gun buy-back program would solve everything. Like if we have no guns, we have no crime. That might do some good, but ...

Community dinners as community engagement 
What about having some community dinners as a way of having community engagement? We are a small community of mostly farm families with a couple of small ...

Church buying residence to use for youth center does zoning allow  Not rated yet
A church on the next block over has purchased the house behind ours. We asked some people coming out of the church what they intended to do with the residence,...

Aims and Objectives of Community Development  Not rated yet
What are the basic aims and objectives of community development?

Editors' Reply:

Amel, we're glad you asked this question and another one about ...

Rallying the youth besides elders to help publish a small town historical book & how?  Not rated yet
Should we rally the youth to get involved with helping to publish a historical book for a small rural town? How?

Mayor Julia M. Meacham of Weldon NC ...

Cities in space?  Not rated yet
Do you think it's time to think about cities in space? How would they be planned? How would they be different from cities on earth?

Editors' Reply:...

Definition of a live-work unit  Not rated yet
I was listening to planning and zoning the other night. One of the board members was arguing that live-work units would be a good thing at the edge of ...

What are livable communities?  Not rated yet
I'm new to the planning commission. One member keeps talking about making our community more livable, and I'm embarrrassed to say I don't know what he ...

How to become an urban planning consultant  Not rated yet
How does one go about becoming an urban planning consultant? Are there any educational or licensing requirements?

Editors' Reply:
We have experience ...

how to own an abandoned house  Not rated yet
If you can't afford an abandoned house and it's an eye sore to the block how can you purchase the house or assume ownership?

Editors' Reply:
Unfortunately ...

Multiple undeveloped rural parcels in agriculture area, ag economy is CAFO  Not rated yet
Multiple parcels in county (various sizes; 1-10 acres) platted in early 1980's. Since then, mega dairies have been built in the same zone (A-1). Would ...

Can zoning be changed without notification  Not rated yet
Can the planning and zoning department change the zoning on my property without any notification?

Editors' Reply:

Oh, this really shouldn't happen....

Do our deed restrictions supersede a spot zoning  Not rated yet
My neighbor has received a spot zoning change based on the fact that his converted garage was used as a rental prior to 1957. The building has not been ...

LOCATING VACANT PROPERTIES and OWNERS  Not rated yet
HOW DO I LOCATE VACANT PROPERTIES AND THEIR OWNERS (IN ORANGE COUNTY, CA)?
THANK YOU.

Editors' Reply:
We don't know of a foolproof way to locate ...

Essential Steps in Strategic Planning for Communities  Not rated yet
What are the most important steps in a strategic planning process for a community? Is it necessary to do a SWOT analysis?

Editors' Reply: It isn'...

housing help for people on disability  Not rated yet
Does the goverment help single moms that's disabled get a hud home?

Editors' Answer: Most likely the fact that you're a single mom or that you are disabled ...

Searching for Measurement Scales ,Questionnaires, and Surveys for A Thesis  Not rated yet
I am a student in the process of writing my thesis. My topic is Sense of Community and Community Development. I am in search of an instrument, and questionnaire ...

how can a community improve a neighborhood  Not rated yet
What are some ways in wich a community can get involved in improving a neighborhood?

Editors' Reply: Juan, you ask a question we just love to answer....

How community can evaluate their parks   Not rated yet
We need to know what to look for when evaluating our neighbourhood parks? What should we look for.

Editors' Reply: We think neighborhood parks should ...

Relationship of human health to the environment  Not rated yet
Are people healthy if the environment is healthier?

Editors' Reply: A healthy environment tends to lead to healthier people, although we would hasten ...

Motivate Youths in Rural Communities  Not rated yet
How can we motivate youths?

Editors' Reply: Usually when adults ask how to motivate rural youth, or urban youth for that matter,they mean "how can I ...

Old industrial site and redevelopment  Not rated yet
Is ownership of an old industrial site a constraint to redevelopment? I've been told that this commercial zoned land I bought once was some kind of old ...

Landmarks and city development  Not rated yet
Are landmarks essential the city's development? What happens if a city seems to have few landmarks? What if a suburb's main landmark is a major discount ...

Are cities part of a watershed?  Not rated yet
What exactly is a watershed? Are cities part of it, or does the city absorb too much water.

Editors' Reply: In a word, yes. A watershed is simply ...

How do you give a neighborhood character?  Not rated yet
Our neighborhood seems plain. What can we do about it?

Editors' Reply: We elaborate on both neighborhood character and small town character on ...

canopy violation  Not rated yet
Do I have to pull a permit for a 10' by 20' canopy which is assembled at the back of my house? I have to pull a permit or remove it. Can I remove it late ...

What can a suburb do about business closings?  Not rated yet
Our suburb was always a beautiful place, mostly built in the 1970s and early 80s, until just recently. We never had any trouble, we had all the conveniences ...

Infrastructure and Subdivisions  Not rated yet
Does the infrastructure have to be installed before lots can be sold in a subdivision?


Editor's Reply: The answer depends on your state law, but ...

How far can the city go in forcing citizens to obey codes?  Not rated yet
Our city is really gonzo about forcing citizens to keep their property "code worthy." Every person up and down our street has received a "code violation"...

Saw the New Page about Recycling Buildings  Not rated yet
I was doing a search and I found the page about recycling buildings. I guess it is new because when I was doing a paper about this topic last semester,...

What is a CDFI  Not rated yet
I heard that a CDFI can be important in neighborhood revitalization. What is that anyway? Must have something to do with finance, but I couldn't figure ...

How can we discourage groups of teenagers in the mall?  Not rated yet
We have too many big groups of teenagers traveling in packs in our shopping mall. They are loud, they run over old ladies, and they don't mind if they ...

Neighborhood Break-Ins  Not rated yet
My normally quiet neighborhood has experienced one actual day-time break-in and one rattling of the door to see if it was locked. This happened in broad ...

What can we do about people selling drugs in our neighborhood?  Not rated yet
Since the people hanging out and selling stuff in our neighborhood don't live here, how can we handle this? They just walk around, avoid the police, and ...

Young For-Profit Housing Developer  Not rated yet
Can a for-profit housing developer build and manage both market rate housing and low-income government subsidized housing?

Editors' Reply: Absolutely!...

How do you shop around for green technology and energy savings?  Not rated yet
I am curious to hear how people who visit this site go about finding the right company to work with for embracing renewable energy sources (solar, wind,...

Restrictions on renting  Not rated yet
Are there restrictions on who I could rent to?

Editors' Reply:

We answered your question some time back, and didn't do a spectacular job. So we'...

1960s Suburb Needs Refreshing  Not rated yet
Our 1960s suburb used to be the envy of the city. Our reputation was of great homogenous neighborhoods, a wonderful place to raise a family, away from ...

Cleaning Up Neighborhood Store Fronts  Not rated yet
How do you get neighborhood businesses to clean up their store fronts?

Editors' Reply: Ginny, we're not sure what problem you mean, so we'll answer ...