By Scott Bernstein & Joel Rogers
What can municipal governments (cities, towns and villages), still suffering from all the pain and disruption that COVID has brought to their communities and economies, do now to hasten their recovery and build resilience for the future, while also addressing past inequity? Here are seven essential steps to take, all proven, with real-world examples and implementation examples for each, that complement each other and can be done simultaneously.
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All municipal governments have the power to start on them right now. So why not start today?
We recognize that not all of you have the home rule and local control powers that provide adequate regulatory and revenue freedom. We also know that all of you are operating within bigger private and public systems, sanctioned by law, with widely distributed veto or blocking powers on your attempts at public service. But we also assume that:
- You want to build a prosperous, inclusive, sustainable, stable home for your residents, businesses and civic institutions.
- You’ve identified priorities in doing that work now, a sense of your current assets and liabilities (financial, legal, civic) in doing that work.
- You’re willing to lead and take risks in doing so, but also recognize that success requires inviting, enabling and organizing contribution from a diverse network of local actors.
- You know that effective reform requires clear continuous communication of WHY it’s being done and adjustment to feedback on HOW; both recommend specificity, incrementalism, and “walking in the shoes” of residents.
If these assumptions are correct, these seven steps are for you.
Note: We’ve tried to order the actions in each section by easiest to hardest or required sequence (learning to walk before trying to run, much less bike).
1: Make Recovery Everyone's Business
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Create an inclusive task force of public and nongovernmental leaders to create a home-grown recovery strategy
Resources
City of Chicago, Report of the Chicago Recovery Task Force
Crain’s Chicago Business, Scott Bernstein, The Recovery of Our Region Requires Collective Intent
Create a performance dashboard to track and monitor health and economic status, and signal both accomplishments and needed additional actions
Resources
PHEAL, Planning for Health Equity, Action and Leadership—A Guide for the COVID-19 Era
Healthy People 2020 Environmental Objectives
Chicago Health Atlas, Healthy Chicago 2.0 Dashboard
Create a focused team to support especially threatened sectors such as the service industry and the arts
Resources
City of Huntsville AL, COVID-19 Musicians Guide, Sound Diplomacy Huntsville Music Strategy
City of Boston, COVID-19 High Road Kitchens Restaurant Relief Fund
Secure direct support from your regional agencies and states for emerging priorities
Resources
Atlanta Regional Commission, Atlanta Livable Centers Initiative
Streetsblog, Using Highway $ for Complete Streets
Contract with community- based, civic and local research centers (independent, university, news media) to provide early warnings of threats to public health and economic stability
Resources
Asset Based Community Development Institute, Guidebooks and Case Studies to Identifying and Mobilizing Community Assets
Create and use local government technical assistance and programs at regional agencies and in emerging state and multi-state initiatives
Resources
California Strategic Growth Council, Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Grants from Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Auction
Transportation & Climate Initiative, 12-State Consortium Formed to Reduce Transportation Emissions and Support Sustainable Communities and Sustainable Communities
South Coast Air Quality Management District, Making Clean Trucks Affordable for Independent Owner-Operators
Boston Public Radio, Neighborhood Scale Climate Change Readiness
2: Advance Equity & Opportunity for All
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Apply a racial equity lens in recovery and rebuild (and strategic) plans, with strong indicators and accountability
Resources
City of Seattle, Racial and Social Justice Initiative
Government Alliance on Race and Equity, Advancing Racial Equity and Transforming Government
Utilize tools that help establish delivery strategies to promote health, equity, poverty reduction, and economic inclusion
Resources
Center for Neighborhood Technology, Urban Opportunity Agenda (poverty reduction strategy and benefits calculator), City Presentations
Eliminate or reduce municipal fines and fees that inequitably impact low-income residents
Resources
National League of Cities, Why Cities Should Find Equitable Ways to Impose and Collect Fines and Fees
Urban Libraries Council, How Eliminating Library Fees Advances Racial Equity; St. Louis Office of Financial Empowerment (children’s saving accounts funded through parking fines)
Understand the eviction problem in your city and implement key steps to prevent eviction
Resources
Mayors Innovation Project, The Housing Crisis: What Cities Can Do
National League of Cities, Using Data to Understand Your Local Eviction Crisis
Grand Rapids, MI, Eviction Prevention
Create new avenues for public engagement and resident participation in city governance
Resources
GovTech for Localized Surveys & Citizen Engagement, Polco
Innovations in Citizen Participation, Modernizing Democracy
Explore piloting a Universal Basic Income program
Resources
3: Unleash Your Local Economy
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Support “buy local” & “invest local” with procurement practices & incentives, especially in historically underserved communities
Resources
Chicago Dept. of Planning & Development, Chicago Neighborhood Opportunity Fund Supports Local Businesses and Commercial Corridors
Governing, In Government Procurement, Buying Local Is Popular. But Is It Beneficial?
Affirmatively support your town’s small businesses, prioritizing women and BIPOC businesses
Resources
Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Safeguarding Small Business During The Pandemic: 26 Strategies For Local Leaders
Lead & partner in the supply of essential goods & services
Resources
Supply Chain Dive, Spending more on local sourcing mitigates socioeconomic and health disparities
Freight Pop, Dynamic, Pop-Up & On-Demand Warehouses
Medium, Project N95 is Here to Help State and Local Governments Address the PPE Shortage
State of CA, Safely Making California
Lower procurement barriers to partnerships that promise increased efficiency and/or broader opportunity
Resources
Mayors Innovation Project, Contracting
Government Alliance on Race and Equity, Contracting for Equity
Meeting of the Minds, Five Takeaways from Procurement Innovation in Glasgow
Governing, Bringing Innovation to Procurement, Innovative Procurement in Philadelphia and Barcelona
Lower barriers to consolidated, joint, or cooperative purchasing and procurement
Resources
Chicago Metropolitan Agency on Planning, Partnerships for Sharing Services
Lake County Illinois, Joint and Cooperative Purchasing
Northwest Municipal Conference, Suburban Purchasing Cooperative
American Public Power Association, National Directory of Public Power Joint Action Agencies
Support “informal” approaches to otherwise expensive development and services
Resources
Island Press 2020, DIY City: The Collective Power of Small Actions
Procure through partnering (e.g. keep the community in Community Policing)
Resources
US Dept. of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Service, Community Policing Defined
Create and support a cadre of small builder-developers
Resources
Incremental Development Alliance, Helping locals strengthen their neighborhoods through small-scale real estate projects
Evanston Developers Cooperative: Built by and For Evanston
Support and advance employee ownership
Resources
Democracy Collaborative, Expanding Democratic Ownership
Imagined Economy Project, Cities Developing Worker Coops: Efforts in Ten Cities
City of Rochester NY, OWN Rochester
4: Zone for Equitable and Sustainable Neighborhoods
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Support outdoor dining and develop outdoor design guidelines
Resources
Placemakers LLC, Pandemic Toolkit: Manual for Rebuilding Community Health & Opportunity Post-COVID
Create open streets and non-vehicle priority areas and encourage rain gardens and tree-planting to quickly improve neighborhood life while “greening”
Resources
U.S. National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Streets for Pandemic Response and Recovery
Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ COVID-19 Street Rebalancing Guide
Open Street Plans Database of Cities with Open Streets (383 cities as of October 30, 2020)
EPA, Soak Up the Rain
Louisville, KY Green Heart Project, Accelerated Tree Canopy Replacement & Health Impacts
Expedite building and zoning permitting
Support tradeoff of parking spaces for parklets
Resources
Done through sponsored competition, and/or better procurement, and/or guidance (NACTO, AARP, NAR, Tulsa)
Case examples: Athens-Clarke County GA, Chicago IL, San Francisco CA, Washington DC
Support and create outdoor shopping, learning, and places of worship
Resources
Happy City and Canadian Urban Institute’s Rapid Placemaking to Bring Back Main Street: A Pandemic Recovery Toolkit for Local Communities
Reduce or remove parking and lot size minimums
Resources
Minneapolis Eliminates SF Zoning
King County Right Size Parking Rules and Calculator
Green Trip Connect Sustainability Certification Bay Area CA
Center for Neighborhood Technology, Stalled Out
Adopt common sense, “lean” zoning codes
Resources
Placemakers, Lean Code Tool (provides model slimmed down zoning codes)
Congress for a New Urbanism, Project for Code Reform (organizes state and national assistances for smaller cities and towns’ efforts to expedite improved zoning codes, including major elements for main streets, housing, green infrastructure for stormwater management and parking; sample manual and code provisions for Vermont towns at www.cnu.org/vermont)
Enabling Better Places: A Zoning Guide for Vermont Neighborhoods, Stormwater, pp. 51-52
Develop & support rent-to-own initiatives
Allow and support in-home businesses
Resources
Project for Lean Urbanism, Leaning Toward Live-Work Units
Allow & support Accessory Commercial Units (ACUs)
Resources
Fast Company, Put Tiny Businesses Back into Neighborhoods
Allow & support Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
Resources
American Planning Association, Accessory Dwelling Units (includes guides, case studies, model ordinances)
AARP, The ABCs of ADUs
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Granny Flat Academy (links to presentation and training materials)
Eliminate or soften legacy rules on permissible number of unrelated persons living in a single home or apartment
Develop & support use of a tiny home code
Resources
Building Safety Journal, The International Residential Code Has a Big Vision for Tiny Homes
5: Speed Up & Broaden Delivery of Essential Services While Saving Money
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Provide a lifeline package of broadband services
Resources
Econsult, COVID 19: Cities and Municipal Broadband
Broadband Now, Report on State Barriers or Roadblocks
Community Municipal Networks, Status and Updated Plans
Directory of 331 current community or municipal networks and pricing
Transition public service provision from cash to touchless transactions, transition in-person permit applications to online services
Resources
Global Newswire, Big Growth in Contactless from Pandemic
Lower barriers to providing “shared package” consolidation and alternative supply chain services
Resources
State Smart Transportation Initiative, Getting the Goods Without the Bads: Freight Transportation Demand Management Strategies to Improve Urban Impacts
Center for Neighborhood Technology, Cargo Oriented Development
ACEEE, Smart Freight
Support micro-mobility for better connections and first-last mile accessibility, and bundle one-stop payment for combined on-demand and transit services
Resources
Shared Use Mobility Center, New Urban Mobility Alliance, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Communities, Micromobility Policy Atlas (Provides case studies and policies from 100 cities)
Expand transit frequency & hours of service, calibrate routes to demand
Resources
The Transit Center, Bus Stop Balancing and A Transit Agenda for the COVID-19 Emergency
Boulder, CO, Making Neighborhoods AND Employees Eligible for Prepaid Discounted Transit Passes
Offer one-stop packages (appropriate rates + advice + financing + contractors) for basic energy & water services including conservation, clean energy and community-scale solutions
Resources
Center for Neighborhood Technology, Creating a Chicago Regional Energy Efficiency System
CNT, Increasing Funding and Financing Options for Sustainable Stormwater Infrastructure
Mayors Innovation Project, Guide for Integrated Water Management
6: Leave No Dollar Behind
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Don’t miss the opportunity to include short-term recovery assistance in current & pending Community Reinvestment Act agreements, or in actions by public employee & other pension funds
Resources
Illinois Treasurer, Access To Capital
Work with “essential” sectors to take advantage of emergency & recovery resources (e.g. flexible funding provision in CARES for health recovery, flexible funding in FAST Act for transportation dollars, use of regional capital dollars by Metropolitan Planning Organizations, stormwater agencies, utilities & Publicly Owned Treatment Works)
Resources
Federal Reserve Board, Federal Community Development and Small Business COVID-19 Assistance Resources
Eno Center, Transferability Percentages in Federal Funding, p.21
NEUAC, Energy Affordability Practices and COVID-19 and COVID-19 FAQ
Provide or support assistance with tax filing & counseling that focuses on cost reduction
Resources
National League of Cities, Earned Income Tax Credit in Your City
Create “forbearance partnerships” with lenders & creditors to restructure home & business debt worsened by COVID-induced economic crisis
Resources
State of Michigan, Michigan Forbearance Partnership
Create & use locally-responsible banking ordinances targeting city banking with lenders who “greenline” or meet public policy targets
Resources
National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Summary of Local Responsible Banking Ordinances
Get your state to use their own depository authority to support your town’s initiatives, including linked deposit investment programs & mortgage forbearance
Resources
Illinois Treasurer, Community Development Linked Deposits
WXYZ, Michigan Mortgage Forbearance Partnership
Housing Wire, Explaining Mortgage Forbearance
7: Build a Readiness Culture
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Repeatedly confirm and communicate community consensus on shared goals, existing plan to get there, progress on that plan and efficiency in getting there, and any needed change
Resources
Urban3, Data-Driven Storytelling
Chmura, County Economic Vulnerability Index
New York Times, Cities’ Fiscal Shortfall from Pandemic Recession
National Tax Association, The Fiscal Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cities: An Initial Assessment
Always be open to exploring proven low-cost, fast, and high-impact strategies for innovation
Resources
GovLabPHL, The Philadelphia Behavioral Science Initiative
Bloomberg Cities, The Future of City Innovation
Moves the Needle, Hayward, CA Case Study on Lean Innovation
Use your and your State’s “emergency declaration” powers to get things done in the community’s interest if community behind them
Resources
NGA, Gubernatorial Authority to Remove Legal Barriers During a Declared Emergency
Coates’ Canons, COVID-19: Who Has What Emergency Authority at the Local Level (North Carolina)
Adopt a lean and flexible municipal ethic based on need, data-informed experiment, and recursive learning, always open to feedback from residents
Resources
USA Today, Using RVs to Free Up Scarce Hospital Beds
CNU, Is Hospital Oriented Development the Next Big Thing?
Democracy Collaborative, Reimagining Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Supply Chains
Prioritize “fix it first” policies and leverage medium term opportunities around economic recovery, health and climate protection, and anticipate new policies that reward readiness
Resources
CARES Act, Flexible funding for quarantine & recovery facilities, stockpiles, supply chains
HEROES Act, Various Energy, Water, Wastewater Affordability Provisions
LIFT Act, Title III, Subtitle B Re-authorizing Environmental and Energy Conservation Block Grants
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