The Bay Area is booming, but a rising tide economy is not lifting up its low-income communities and communities of color. As communities of color continue to drive growth and change in the region, addressing wide racial inequities and ensuring people of color can fully participate as workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators is an urgent priority. Our analysis finds that the regional economy could have been $117 billion stronger in 2012 absent its racial gaps in income and employment. This profile, produced for The San Francisco Foundation, describes the region’s demographic transformation and performance on a series of equity indicators. Read the summary (web version/download PDF) and the full profile (web version/download PDF). NOTE: This profile was updated in 2017. See the updated profile.

Media: Study Finds S.F.’s Ethnic Diversity Dwindling (SF Chronicle); A Startling Map of How Much Whiter San Francisco Will Be in 2040 (CityLab); S.F. Could Be Much Whiter in 25 Years, While the Rest of Region Gets More Diverse (KQED News); Study Shows San Francisco Getting Less Diverse (KGO 810 News); San Francisco Poised to be "Whitest County" in Bay Area (NBC Bay Area); SF Is on Track to Be the Whitest County in the Region (SF Curbed)

This document, created by the Urban Institute, explores seven steps to align high-quality education with innovations in city and metropolitan planning and development.

This guide contains a set of suggested critical criteria, functions, and guiding questions to use in order to review potential database vendors. These guidelines are intended to be a starting point for community discussions about data systems, and can be altered to reflect the specific needs of a Promise Neighborhood.

This “Peer Learning Tool” is intended to briefly highlight examples of promising solutions for achieving the Promise Neighborhoods results, as well as the competencies needed to implement them effectively and sustain the work over time, that were taken from communities utilizing the Promise Neighborhoods approach who were willing to share their experiences with their colleagues.

The tool is organized in two parts: one including promising practices related to the Promise Neighborhoods results and associated indicators, and another describing efforts to build the competencies necessary to achieve better results and scale the work over time. For a given result area or competency there is an entry that includes a brief description of the efforts of one or more Promise Neighborhoods in that area as well as a contact person who can be reached to learn additional details.

The Cape Fear region in North Carolina is experiencing a demographic transformation characterized by a diversifying younger population and a rapidly growing senior population that is predominantly White. To secure a thriving economy for the decades to come, the region must tap the economic potential of its growing young population. Building education and career pathways for all and ensuring young workers are prepared for the jobs of the future are key strategies for inclusive growth in the region. Download the profile and summary.

Media: Community, Business Leaders Discuss Inequalities and Growth (WilmingtonBiz.com) 

The Pine Ridge reservation, home of Oglala Lakota people, sits within a broader regional economic context whose primary sectors include tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, and retail.1 The Pine Ridge Reservation and the Rapid City Metropolitan area are interdependent economies that, to date, channel many economic benefits off-reservation. This Equity and Opportunity Assessment identifies key strategies to create greater vibrancy and equity in reservation-based economic activity—to increase prosperity and quality of life for both the Oglala Lakota people and the region as a whole.

The promising practices cited herein include both proven practices as well as those that are less tested but represent an innovative and thoughtful effort to address a problem.

Transit Oriented Development that’s Healthy, Green and Just asks a basic question about Puget Sound’s new light rail system – how do we ensure this massive public investment benefits all families? In Southeast Seattle neighborhoods the light rail has already accelerated gentrification and may lead to displacement of many communities of color into the suburbs. It’s not just a lack of affordable housing, though. Low-wage jobs keep family incomes down as real estate prices rise, creating pressure to leave. As it turns out, transit oriented development that ignores racial equity and job quality will short-change light rail’s potential environmental benefits

Filling the Financing Gap for Equitable Transit-Oriented Development describes the key components of a model system for equitable TOD, the most common challenges regional actors face in moving equitable TOD projects forward and a variety of strategies partners can use to address these challenges. The report includes recommendations for approaches to leveraging public and private funds, coordinating multiple actors, involving the community and managing issues around land use and assembly. LIIF and Enterprise co-authored the paper with support from Living Cities.