Resources & Publications

Here, you’ll find a wealth of knowledge—reports, case studies, toolkits, and more.

ResourceDescriptionTopicSource
Where We Thrive – Narrative BriefCommunicating about Resident-Centered Neighborhood RevitalizationNarrative & Communications, Placed-Based Field LeadershipPurpose Built
Where We Thrive – Communications ToolkitStrategies for Advocates Communicating About Resident-Centered Neighborhood RevitalizationNarrative & Communications, Placed-Based Field LeadershipPurpose Built
Where We Thrive – Methods and DataA description of research methods and supporting data, offered in supplement to the Where We Thrive Narrative BriefData & Research, Narrative & Communications, Placed-Based Field LeadershipPurpose Built
Value and Impact of the Purpose Built Community of Practice: 2019-2021This paper — intended for Purpose Built Communities staff, supporters, partners and Network Members — articulates Purpose Built’s successful and compelling journey to adopt and implement a CoP strategy. Specifically, the paper describes the Purpose Built CoP startup process, the status of the Purpose Built CoP as of early 2021 and success factors to date.Community of Practice, Data & Research, PartnershipsPurpose Built
Poverty and Place: A Review of the Science and Research That Have Impacted Our WorkThis white paper offers an overview of selected research that has informed our thinking as we continue to fight against intergenerational urban poverty.Data & ResearchPurpose Built
Transforming East Lake: A Case Study by America’s Promise AllianceWhat’s the secret behind East Lake’s turnaround? Can lessons from East Lake guide comprehensive efforts at neighborhood transformation in other communities? Through interviews with more than 20 key participants, reviews of historical and current documents, and an examination of existing research about neighborhood revitalization, this in-depth case study by America’s Promise Alliance explores those questions and illuminates East Lake’s storyData & ResearchAmerica's Promise Alliance
The Geography of Upward Mobility in the United StatesRaj Chetty, the Bloomberg Professor of Economics and a leading scholar on opportunity and intergenerational mobility, presented his latest research on how where one grows up has a huge impact on success later in life.Data & ResearchBrookings Institution
Friendship and Economic MobilityDrawing on a massive dataset, comprising the social networks of 72.2 million users of Facebook aged between 25 and 44 years, Chetty and his team are able to assess how far social networks influence economic mobility.Data & ResearchBrookings Institution
Data Show Neighborhoods Matter in Most Powerful Way YetAn article in New York Times provides in-depth coverage of a breakthrough study by the Equality of Opportunity Project that makes the case we at Purpose Built Communities have been making for years – neighborhoods matter. Some key quotes from the article: How neighborhoods affect children “has been a quandary with which social science has been grappling for decades,” said David B. Grusky, director of the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University, who was not involved in the research. “This delivers the most compelling evidence yet that neighborhoods matter in a really big way.”Data & ResearchThe New York Times
Case Study on Focused Community Strategies’ Rotational Capital FundThe Focused Community Strategies (FCS) Rotational Capital Fund is a single-family homeownership financing tool, enabling FCS to acquire, stabilize, and sell over 100 homes to existing residents and new neighbors since its launch, with 30 additional properties under development. Atlanta / Focused Community StrategiesFocused Community Strategies
Case Study on Growing Together’s Kendall-Whittier Neighborhood TrustGrowing Together, a Purpose Built Communities Network Member, has pioneered the Kendall-Whittier Neighborhood Trust (KWNT) in collaboration with national nonprofit Trust Neighborhoods. One of the nation’s first Mixed Income Neighborhood Trusts, the KWNT is a non-conventional financing mechanism for affordable rental housing that mitigates displacement and drives inclusive community development outcomes.Case Study, Housing, Mixed-Income Housing, Network Members, Tulsa / Growing TogetherGrowing Together
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