Context & Overview. late 2012 or early 2013.

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1 hscorp.ca

2 Abstract/Overview When the code red went out in Hamilton in 2010, the City and senior community leaders took notice. There were clear signs that health, social and economic outcomes varied widely among neighbourhoods. But how best to address these disparities between the haves and the have-nots? The City created a Neighbourhood Development Strategy that focused on engaging the community and collaborating through the ABCD model of community development. This grass roots approach - while only recently launched - holds the promise of transformational change in target neighbourhoods by aligning mutual priorities and finding synergies for regeneration. 1

3 Context & Overview In the spring of 2010, the local press in Hamilton published a series of stories about the disparities among areas within the city. In the stories, those areas within the city experiencing poor health, social and economic outcomes were labeled code red. Senior management of the City convened a panel with key community leaders, anchor institutions and local stakeholders to look at ways to better address these disparities. The fundamental question asked was How do the decisions we make contribute to communities and their health? The discussion helped prompt thinking among these leaders about more community-oriented outcomes and the collaborations that could create innovative partnerships. Ultimately, the dialogue helped influence future decisions regarding major projects in the city, namely the McMaster Children s Hospital and Pan-Am Games stadium. These discussions also had implications for the City as it looked to address the issues of disparity ity from within its sphere of influence. Later that year, the City committed to create a neighbourhood development strategy as part of their corporate plan. Council approved this initial direction in the fall of 2010 and earmarked $2M to support the strategy. The City s primary goals for the initiative were to improve code red neighbourhoods and to improve coordination and effectiveness among departments within the City. It was also recognized that neighbourhood engagement gement would need to be a significant part of the initiative in order for sustained change to take place. A position was created in the city manager s office to help direct this initiative with the recruitment of a director of neighbourhood od development strategies. Since establishing the director position in 2010, a formal Neighbourhood Development Strategy framework has been approved by City Council and partnerships have been struck with both the Hamilton Community Foundation and Hamilton Best Starts initiatives. Neighbourhood plan ment is in-process in three areas and community engagement has been initiated in three develop- others. Through a partnership with the Hamilton Community Foundation, related ground work is being conducted in five other areas/hubs with the assistance ance of community opment workers. Formal plans for three neighbourhoods are expected ed to come forward in devel- late 2012 or early

4 The Neigbourhood Plan Concept Traditional land use planning documents like City Official Plans and Secondary Plans are intended to articulate a community s vision, objectives and principals for future development. As legislated documents, they also set out policies for guiding decision-making to support achievement of the vision. Translating this community vision into action is a challenge and because of their legislated nature, the process for developing these plans tends to be top-down and City-driven. Other implementation tools like zoning by-laws and design guidelines help implement these land use policies on the ground. However, the tendency is for these plans to focus more on land use and hard services, and focus less on the human fabric of the community. Some communities have adopted Human Services plans as a way to better address this issue and provide a more integrated approach to community planning. The concept of neighbourhood plans approaches this issue a little differently. While this approach is also focused on holistic and integrated planning, by contrast it is a bottomup, community-driven initiative that strives to connect community priorities and issues within the broader planning framework. Neighbourhood plans are not intended to replace traditional planning documents or add additional layers but rather to complement them and provide an additional tool to achieve mutual goals through implementation. Unlike traditional plans, neighbourhood plans are owned and implemented by the community. For the community, this approach provides an important stake in bringing together partners and focusing efforts on neighbourhood strengths and self-identified issues. For the City, the process provides an opportunity to better align resources and integrate decision-making across departments to achieve more effective outcomes in communities. 3

5 What s the City s Role in this Initiative? Through the Neighbourhood Development Strategy, the City of Hamilton has defined an important but supportive role in the development of neighbourhood plans. The primary vehicles for achieving this are Neighbourhood Action Planning Teams (NAPTs). NAPTs are chaired by local residents but are comprised of both staff and local stakeholders. As a process facilitator, the City s main role is to assist NAPTs through the plan development process, providing advice, input and support along the way. Ultimately, the City s goal is to be a catalyst, bringing together key community leaders and stakeholders, helping them articulate their local priorities and supporting them in the development of an action plan that achieves self-identified goals. The expectation is that each neighbourhood will move forward with implementing its action plan, taking responsibility for helping to transform their communities from the ground up. As process facilitators, City staff have specific roles in the Strategy to: Identify priority neighbourhoods with the assistance of community partners; Assist in the establishment of the Neighbourhood Action Planning Team (NAPT) for each of the priority neighbourhoods Provide land use planning support a city planner is assigned to each NAPT; Provide other technical support - City staff from different departments also advise/ support each NAPT as required (average of six to seven staff per NAPT); Help develop/formalize the Neighbourhood Plan document under the direction of the NAPT; and Support the NAPT throughout the Plan development process, from the initial meeting through to adoption and launch of the Plan 4

6 Getting the Process Started An important initial question relates to geography what is a neighbourhood? Historically, neighbourhoods have been identified by City planning areas, as defined by the Planning Department. Given the historical recognition of these areas, it was anticipated that neighbourhood plans would follow this same geography. While there are provisions for NAPTs to self-identify the boundaries of their neighbourhood, experience to date has shown that City planning areas are indeed being used for Plan development purposes. Given the significant number of planning areas, a prioritized approach to the Neighbourhood Development Strategy was warranted. On obvious first step for the City was to focus in on neighbourhoods identified as code red. The City sat down with community partners to further prioritize this sub-group. Given the critical importance of community participation in the process, neighbourhoods which had identified contacts and active community members were an important first consideration. The City used this toehold as an important starting point for selecting the first group of candidate neighbourhoods. In the future, the selection process may be more challenging given that the City will need to cultivate contact points and community stakeholders in less active neighbourhoods. Once a critical mass of community stakeholders in a candidate neighbourhood has been identified, the City formerly initiates the local NAPT. To maintain a workable team size, the NAPT is typically people. Each NAPT is chaired by a member of the community. Majority representation from the community on the NAPT is key and typically includes known stakeholders, business people, service delivery agencies and community icons. The balance of the team is made up of City staff, selected to provide technical and process advice from across various departments. Staff representation is tied to local priorities as expressed by the NAPT and as a result, staff mix on the NAPT can vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. To assist the NAPT in getting organized and to help team members get oriented, the City has developed a number of work tools, fact sheets and resources. These are provided to help supplement the support that staff on each team provides. The Neighbourhood Action Planning Toolkit is one of the primary resources used and provides background, process details and templates to guide NAPT members through the process. The toolkit also includes resource information on consensus decision-making to further assist teams in moving through the process. It s worth noting here that community representatives on the NAPT are just that they are expected to represent the views of the neighbourhood and consult with those not at the table to ensure those perspectives are being reflected through the plan development process. 5

7 Developing a Neighbourhood Plan The key deliverable The primary focus of the Neighbourhood Development strategy is the formulation of community-based action plans that reflect local priorities. The process for plan development is centred on the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) model. This approach provides for a more positive form of community engagement that focuses on building around strengths and what works well locally. The timeline for developing a typical neighbourhood plan is roughly 6 to 8 months. While there are always twists and turns along the way, the main elements of the plan development process involve: 1. Inventory assets Using the ABCD approach, identify, map and prioritize all neighbourhood assets What do I like about my neighbourhood? 2. Identify needs Flag needs and prioritize areas for improvement - What would I like to change about my neighbourhood? 3. Frame vision & possible strategies Articulate a preferred future, how to build on assets and how to address needs What would I like my neighbourhood to look like in the future? 4. Establish action priorities Identify actions and quick wins for achieving the vision, reflect on how feasible they are What s possible, what s realistic? 5. Formalize the Plan Set out specific objectives, priority actions and timelines in the form of a work plan - What s our plan to achieve our vision? 6. Adopt & market the Plan Approval of the final plan, building momentum and gathering community support - How can we action and sustain the Plan? An important aspect of the plan development process is ensuring that it is representative of the entire neighbourhood and not just the voices of those around the NAPT table. For that reason, a feedback loop is built into the process where resident NAPT members are obliged to seek input from the broader neighbourhood. This can include hosting events in schools, attending service club meetings and even going door-to-door in order to solicit opinions. This consultation loop ensures that residents are driving the issues during the process and helps build neighbourhood buy-in for the plan. 6

8 This same community focus holds true when considering the City role in actions arising from the plan. Because there are inevitable soft issues which are not commonly found in City plans or strategies, the neighbourhood plan should articulate the neighbourhood s identity and aspirations, not just create a shopping list of things the City should do. This broader perspective helps ensure that the City and the neighbourhood are true partners in community outcomes. As a partner, the focus for the City then becomes how they can align their efforts with the neighbourhood actions and priorities articulated in the plan. The plan is intended to be a blueprint for how the neighbourhood can help itself. For that reason, the plan needs to be relevant, realistic and actionable. The format adopted for the plan is therefore business-like and purposeful, geared to action and not just broad strategies. Typically, the maximum timeline for the plan is 5 years and plan actions are expressed in the short (<1 year), medium (2-3 year) and long term (4-5 year) horizon. As part of the planning process, staff also help NAPT identify quick wins even before the plan is completed. The intent here is to help the team capitalize on opportunities right away and kick start the implementation process. In terms of approvals, the NAPT is wholly responsible for securing neighbourhood buy-in and plan implementation. Staff continue to support the team through this process but again, the plan must be driven by the neighbourhood to ensure success. While a formal plan has not yet been completed, three are expected to reach that stage late in 2012 or early In order to support the Neighbourhood City staff in the Housing Department were developing an initiative to provide a home ownership down payment program. Through discussions that evolved out of NAPT, the program was subsequently targeted to priority neighbourhoods and further enhanced by linking in a curb appeal grant. This enabled the targeting of City incentives to support multiple neighbourhood plan objective. Development Strategy and give appropriate endorsement to the actions, each plan will rise to City Council for adoption or endorsement. In keeping with the community focus of the initiative, the plan is to be presented by a community spokesperson from NAPT. To better support these individuals and build community capacity, training will be provided to spokespeople via the City s Communications Department. As part of, or parallel to, the plan adoption process, it is anticipated that staff would bring forward a report to Council responding to the proposed actions and activities in the plan that are related to the City. 7

9 Financial Support and Partnerships As part of the Neighbourhood Development Strategy, City Council set up a reserve of $2M to help support plan implementation. Because neighbourhood plans may encompass activities for which the City is already responsible, resources for those items are expected to already be built into departmental budgets. The reserve fund is intended to help fill resource gaps in local plans where funding does not already exist or where other sources of funding could be leveraged. The reality is that this reserve fund is just an initial seeding mechanism. In order to adequately address the actions emanating from neighbourhood plans, more resources are certain to be required in the future. Once a few neighbourhood plans have gone through the adoption process and a better sense of costing is developed, questions around reserve adequacy will need to be re-visited. Partnerships have, and are expected to continue leveraging resources as an important part of the Neighbourhood Development Strategy. The City has already established complementary relationships with a number of organizations, including: Funding for community development workers in 5 code red areas under a partnership between the City, Hamilton Community Foundation and Best Starts A partnership with McMaster University in a longitudinal study of residents in priority neighbourhoods A partnership with the Social Planning and Research Council to monitor neighbourhood changes and plan implementation A partnership with the Social Planning and Research Council to monitor neighbourhood changes over time The City is also anxious to pursue urban development agreements with senior levels of government both from the perspective of coordination and funding. This vehicle has been used by other cities (e.g. Vancouver, Winnipeg) to help align and coordinate efforts on specific initiatives between the various levels of government and across departments. This avenue will be pursued further by the City once initial neighbourhood planning work has advanced. This will help ensure that the scope and scale is sufficient to warrant an urban development agreement. 8

10 How Will the Success of the Neighbourhood Development Strategy be Measured? One of the City s key principles in promoting the Strategy is ensuring that it has an enduring benefit for those who live in the neighbourhood. From the City s perspective, regenerating neighbourhoods can not just be a tool for gentrification - there has to be a place for those who live in the neighbourhood today as well as the opportunity for choices tomorrow. If the process simply pushes people out in favour of refreshing the neighbourhood, than the initiative will be seen by the City as a failure. Ultimately, neighbourhood plans - as self-prioritized and community-owned documents establish a local framework within which the City can better align its priorities and resources. Having neighbourhood plans will enhance the effectiveness of the City s decision-making process for the area. Over the longer term, it is envisioned that the neighbourhood planning process will start to change the decision-making dynamics of the City and other partners, and will lead to greater access and quality of services for neighbourhoods. To better understand if objectives are being met, an extensive evaluation and monitoring component has been established as part of the Neighbourhood Development Strategy. There are four layers of evaluation: Primary data evaluation Random survey based on door-to-door format Explores health, well-being and perceptions of neighbourhood on a longitudinal basis survey every two years for a ten-year period Linked to partnership with McMaster University Secondary data evaluation Monitoring of environmental indicators, factors and specific measures in neighbourhoods over time Linked to partnership with Social Planning & Research Council Investment and sustainability analysis Deploying community development workers into neighbourhoods, understanding impacts of their roles & feedback on the ground Linked to partnership with Hamilton Community Foundation Evaluation of Plans/Process Measuring the effectiveness of the plans and the planning process Individual plan evaluation via NAPTs and City staff Process evaluation linked to partnership with University of Toronto From the City s perspective, the success of the Neighbourhood Development Strategy will ultimately be reflected in neighbourhood improvement over time and the detailed evaluation framework that has been established is designed to address that question. 9

11 How Does Housing Fit With This Initiative? In terms of scale, neighbourhood development strategies speak to issues beyond a single project or housing development because housing is a fundamental component of any community. It is not surprising then that based on experience to date, housing is emerging as one of the top three issues for NAPTs besides open space and amenities. NAPT discussions to date have involved housing tenure, form, accessibility and appropriateness of available housing choices at a more general level. Experience to date has also shown that housing issues tend to be expressed from a more personal perspective through the NAPT process. For example, residents may express a desire to access grants to repair their current housing but may be less inclined to flag the regeneration of a public housing project in their neighbourhood as an issue. The cross-section of stakeholders and staff at the NAPT table is expected to help feed in these divergent opinions and help broaden awareness as part of the plan development process. As a result, neighbourhood plans create the opportunity for promoting neighbourhood improvement by responding to both macro and micro issues through targeted action. Housing stakeholders are actively participating in the planning process. Both City housing staff and City Housing Hamilton (CHH, the City s shareholder-owned local housing corporation) are engaged at multiple NAPT tables. One of the key items staff are raising with NAPT teams is how regeneration and revitalization opportunities in the social housing stock can tie in with specific neighbourhood aspirations. At the same time, these two City entities are also building connections in from the planning process, collaborating with other departments and community partners on how to advance regeneration of their housing portfolio. What lessons exist here for regeneration in the housing sphere? Because housing is intrinsically linked to an individual s sense of place, quality of life is as important to the individual as it is to the whole community this is true whether you are a homeowner or a resident in social housing Housing issues don t stop at the project s property line - good social housing communities contribute to good neighbourhoods and vice versa regeneration in this context is about finding benefits that represent win-win outcomes Given the evolving municipal role in housing, it s important to be engaged in neighbourhood strategies as both a stakeholder and as a leader Taking a broader perspective can have a transformational impact on regeneration and address persistent local housing issues ( think globally, act locally ) Working within a mutually defined framework helps to better align objectives, efforts and resources among stakeholders Collaborations, partnerships and networks established through the process are invaluable to creating a neighbourhood fit for social/affordable housing projects Building neighbourhood plans from the ground up helps ensure there is a sound foundation and enduring support for positive change 10

12 For more information about the Strategy: Paul Johnson, Director, Neighbourhood Development Strategies City of Hamilton Phone: (905) x For more information about the City of Hamilton: City of Hamilton web page: 11