Andre Leroux
Following a terrible year in which our smaller cities bore the brunt of COVID-19, they now face the unexpected chance to position themselves for prosperity, if they can connect more of their residents to long-term stability and opportunities to build wealth.
More than most other communities, these cities have downtowns and other areas poised to become “complete” neighborhoods where residents can access all their daily needs within a short walk, bike, drive or transit ride. This aligns with a widespread reset thatvalues more family time including hybrid work arrangements and shorter commutes.
Across the country, more people are moving from high-cost to lower-cost areas in order to get more house for their money and slow down their pace of life. As a result, the housing market has shifted. The biggest increases are coming in places like Springfield, which has seen a 24 percent increase in home prices in just the last year.
Ben Forman
This flow of private investment is accompanied by an influx of public investment not seen in decades. This week Gov. Charlie Baker announced that $2.8 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) aid should flow principally to populations most impacted by the pandemic. With a of additional $3.4 billion in ARPA aid going directly to Massachusetts municipalities, cities like Haverhill and New Bedford will have tens of millions of dollars left over even after replacing lost revenue and covering pandemic related expenses.
To make the most of this windfall, Gateway Cities must steer these dollars to investments that benefit their residents by boosting economic mobility, building wealth and lessening inequality.
Enhance Mobility
The first step in improving residents’ economic mobility is to improve their physical mobility. The fabric of Gateway Cities is built for walking and intense concentrations of urban activity, but this core strength was neglected for decades, as businesses moved outward to suburban locations that residents could only reach with a car. Access to walkable, bikeable places has become more important. Low-income urban residents need well-maintained sidewalks, safe bike lanes and shade-creating, neighborhood-cooling street trees for health. Local businesses rely on foot traffic more than ever for their customers, so creating vibrant pedestrian-friendly spaces is a win-win.
Second, by eliminating bus fares in low-income areas, Gateway Cities leaders can help connect essential workers to jobs as well as put money directly in the pockets of some of our poorest seniors and families. Zero-fare programs in Lawrence and Worcester have led to significant increases in ridership at a very modest expense. Greater ridership necessitates more frequent service, which in turn draws more riders in a positive feedback loop to the benefit of everybody in the community.
Third, Gateway Cities can target water and wastewater infrastructure improvements to low-income areas where road and sidewalk reconstruction can also increase walkability. In addition, “green infrastructure” that reduces flooding can create attractive new paths and open spaces while restoring ecosystems.
Support Local Businesses
As Gateway Cities craft plans to build back from the pandemic, they must create public-private partnerships with local anchor institutions to connect entrepreneurs of color to capital and new markets. Establishing flexible procurement rules that allow local and minority-owned businesses to benefit from public spending, especially the anticipated flow of new investment in public infrastructure and green energy, is a must.
An important part of building these partnerships will be the formation of business improvement districts, cultural districts and parking benefit districts that support reinvestment in downtowns and other key commercial areas. By ensuring that these initiatives have sufficient capacity to operate effectively and are inclusive, these districts can leverage opportunities to build wealth in communities of color through small business ownership.
These districts create a supportive network for retail businesses and restaurants, but cities must also do work inside their City Halls to expand outdoor dining programs and funds for outdoor furniture, barriers and landscaping. They must also make policies flexible, permanent, easy to navigate , and implement placemaking strategies in key locations.
Stabilize Neighborhoods
But Gateway Cities can’t stop there when large numbers of their residents are at risk of eviction because of back rent while unemployment rates in Gateway Cities remain abnormally high. Municipal funds can provide more flexible support in cases where families are ineligible for existing state programs or have reached the limit of what those programs can provide.
In the longer term, it will be important to fund development projects that create affordable and mixed-income housing in downtowns and near transit, and seed revolving loans funds to help nonprofits rehab blighted property and create new homeownership opportunities for low- to moderate-income residents.
Gateway Cities have an unprecedented opening to become the engines of regional growth and broadly shared economic prosperity for Massachusetts once more. If we help these communities seize the opportunity, our entire commonwealth will share the benefits.
Ben Forman is research director at MassINC and André Leroux is the principal of consultancy Leroux Solutions and the former executive director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance.
