Challenge Day Reflections: Neighborhoods & Communities, LT'20
Neighborhoods & Communities Challenge Day
October 10, 2019
By: Bryce Anderson, LT’19
To keep you connected to LT and the current issues and topics discussed in the curriculum, LT shares highlights and resources from the recent Challenge Day. We hope you enjoy these monthly updates!
The first Challenge Day was held at the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) and sponsored by WSP. As an LT alum (with an up-to-date LT database profile), I was invited to write about the issues raised and discussed in this Challenge Day. You may access the agenda here and the full list of pre-reading here.
"How do we speak together when the words we use mean different things to one another?"
The day began with a workshop, led by Dr. Anu Taranath, on the subject of "engaging in conversation about race and other tricky topics with nuance, strategy, and grace." Talking about race can be difficult. Everyone brings their lived experiences to these conversations, which often affects how they are impacted and their understanding of words and topics. How do leaders have important conversations when what they are talking about may not be understood the same way?
This workshop helped the class set some groundwork and mutual understanding about race and how to discuss it during their LT year. Working toward a healthy community, one that is more racially just and equitable, requires leaders to confront uncomfortable truths and difficult issues, so this common language is paramount.
How did we get here? What's the history?
The cohort explored the history of community development and how the development of our natural and built environments is deeply intertwined with land use, growth, and the elements of a healthy community.
Racial injustice was deeply embedded in policies and decisions that led to our region's community development. Some examples include the colonization of Native American land, the exclusion of some immigrants based on race or nationality, and policies such as redlining or racially restrictive covenants.
These racist policies and restrictions continue to impact communities of color. Today, 51% of white people are homeowners, compared to some communities of color where just 24% are homeowners. Single family homeownership was designed as a pathway to wealth and prosperity that excluded communities of color, which has led to significant disparities in intergenerational wealth.
The class divided into small group for a neighborhood walkabout, to personally experience and observe the impact of land use and growth in this neighborhood. When faced with complex issues and diverse visions for the future, walkabouts provide a way to get to know and experience the community.
Resources:
"What comes to mind for your vision of a healthy, happy, prosperous, and inclusive Seattle?"
Cohort members described their vision for Seattle as a place that protects the environment, where people can afford to live and work in the city regardless of role or place in life, and one that has empowered, stable neighborhoods.
Through a role-play exercise, the class delved into some of the competing tensions (such as history through modern planning policies, growth, density, desire to maintain natural environment, and displacement) in the community development process.
In each scenario, leadership styles, power dynamics, differing community visions, and personal interests were played against each other as stakeholders negotiated and compromised. In one scenario, a financer and developer needed a multi-family development to be profitable, but a neighboring business was worried density would hurt their business due to lack of parking. None of the 10 groups were able to successfully negotiate an outcome in the time allotted, demonstrating how difficult it is to balance wants and needs in community development.
Resources:
Takeaways and Observations
While observing the role-play exercise, I noticed that cohort members employed leadership styles and voices based on their character's wants and needs, as well as their position of power. For example, the long-term resident found strength by leveraging their knowledge of the community and putting relationships first when fighting displacement, while advocates wanted more density to accommodate growth and new jobs that would help the neighborhood economy. Different policy levers were available to each leader, but they could come at the cost of unintended impacts. Each "needle" to be moved by community stakeholders was passionately contested because of different backgrounds and interests.
There are many layers to peel off when thinking about neighborhoods and the roles of leadership and race within community development. One leader described their leadership style as providing the room for grace. Learning to discuss leadership and race with grace, and really experiencing communities and people, are important leadership practices that bring people together so they can engage in conversations with deeper understanding and ultimately solve problems.
