Oakland
Communities are using new information systems to analyze development opportunities and strategically invest limited public resources to leverage private investment. In its effort to support local stabilization efforts, the Federal Reserve is highlighting how communities are changing their investment strategies, creating new partnerships, and demonstrating impact.
Communities across the nation are struggling with severe resource constraints as they seek to stabilize neighborhoods devastated by the economic crisis. While this strain has affected all levels of government, it is felt most profoundly at the local level where non-profits and municipal governments struggle to maintain basic services in response to increased demand.
Background
Oakland is using new technology to empower residents to be part of the decision-making process around community investments. As a stronger-market west coast city with a diverse and stable population base, Oakland struggles with stark economic inequality among neighborhoods. In an attempt to address this inequality, a number of nonprofit groups have come together to utilize new technologies to empower residents to have a voice in the future development of Oakland neighborhoods. Two groups in particular, Urban Strategies Council and Youth Uprising, have harnessed data in particularly creative ways to provide a voice for communities.