Communities – Page 46 – Knight Foundation

Program Area: Communities

To build on past tours by senior San Jose leaders to Copenhagen by supporting two San Jose-only study tours for middle and senior-level civic leaders.

As one travels across San Jose’s sprawling 180-square-mile landscape, it’s hard to believe this is America’s tenth most populous city. The low-rise suburban city hosts seemingly endless single-family homes, strip malls, freeways and suburban office parks, but too few vibrant and well-used public spaces that welcome and celebrate our one million residents. 

In San Jose, Knight seeks to change that by creating one of the nation’s most engaged cities driven by a focus on public life — drawing people out of their cars and homes and into the community. In doing so, we aim to place people at the center of the city’s present and future. By helping to build a San Jose for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, we aim to create a vibrant and welcoming city that makes being out and in public irresistible and celebrates the collision of diverse people and ideas. 

To reinvent itself as a city built for people, San Jose must overcome decades of automobile-focused policies that have spread residents across a disconnected geography, made the car the preferred transit mode for most, and contributed to one of the nation’s worst housing crises. These things are, in part, to blame for only 29 percent of residents feeling “attached” to San Jose, according to Knight’s 2010 Soul of the Community report. 

Now is a key time to address these problems. San Jose is expected to grow 23 percent by 2040. In the short term, the city is deciding the future of Diridon Station, expected to be the largest transit hub on the West Coast and which may include a potential 20,000+ person Google office. Both of these developments present vexing questions about where these people will live, how they move around, and what will bind them to San Jose.

We can’t solve San Jose’s long-term challenges, but we can work with the people of San Jose to shape how those challenges could be addressed — and new opportunities seized. That’s why our focus is on people — how they can engage in their community though its public spaces and by enlivening public life. 

Since 2008, Knight has committed $25+ million to San Jose with a renewed focus on the following themes:

  • Building walkable, bikeable and transit-oriented neighborhoods;
  • Creating new public spaces and reimagining existing ones to bring together a range of people, while offering an outlet to learn and share ideas;
  • Helping San Joseans forge deeper connections with their city with events, things and places that define San Jose.

Our investments include but are not limited to: constructing North America’s most ambitious Better Bikeways Networks; expanding SPUR, one of the nation’s leading urban policy think-and-do-tanks, to San Jose; hiring the City of San Jose’s first principal city designer; launching and scaling VIvaCalleSJ, our Open Streets program, to 130,000 people; and identifying and supporting thousands of emerging leaders across the city. Across all of our efforts, we seek to amplify community voices, respond to community demands and support the next generation of urban problem solvers. 

As San Jose steps into the future, Knight will remain a committed partner — supporting ideas, people, and organizations that put people-first — to create an ever more informed and engaged city. 

Daniel Harris is Director/San Jose at Knight Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @dyuliharris.

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San Jose, Calif.—Aug. 16, 2018—The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced more than $1 million in new funding for 16 projects aimed at making San Jose one of the nation’s most engaged cities, driven by a focus on public life— drawing people out of their cars and homes and into the community. 

Led by a range of community development organizations and City Hall, many of the projects focus on leveraging public spaces to highlight local culture and talent, while creating more options for residents of all kinds to shape the city. From a technology application that better connects residents with local leadership to events that showcase the city’s rich creative community, the projects work to advance a better future for San Jose driven by and in partnership with residents. They also focus on expanding the capacity and impact of those working to create positive change in the city. 

“Civic engagement is rooted in attaching people to place. To do that, residents need avenues to contribute and connect, and opportunities to immerse themselves in local culture; they need to feel that their stories are reflected in the fabric of the community. These investments aim to help advance those bold goals,” said Danny Harris, Knight Foundation program director for San Jose. 

The organizations receiving support include:

City of San Jose ($220,000) – Improving the ways in which residents interact with City Hall by expanding the “My San Jose” technology application, which fields common service requests (i.e. potholes, street light outages). Funding will help increase responsiveness, and add a more user-friendly design, as well as customized digital experiences. 

San Jose Jazz ($175,000)– Increasing civic engagement by celebrating San Jose’s musical talent timed with the 50th anniversary of the iconic song, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose.” Funding will support experiences that spotlight San Jose’s musicians and connect them with residents, along with new musical work that reflects the spirit and diversity of San Jose. 

All Good Work Space Foundation ($75,000) – Supporting San Jose organizations working to bring positive change to the community by connecting local nonprofit organizations with donated office space in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. 

Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County ($75,000) – Fostering safe and vibrant neighborhoods by convening community members to resolve problems related to properties affected by blight, crime or nuisance. 

City Parks Alliance ($63,400) – Supporting a network of community organizations focused on creating vibrant parks and public spaces; funding will help improve collaboration between organizations and help develop the capacity of leaders across sectors.

San Jose Parks Foundation ($60,000) – Invigorating  Cesar Chavez Park with music, food trucks, family-friendly programming and sports during Summer and Fall 2018. 

CURATUS ($60,000) – Increasing neighborhood vibrancy by supporting SubZero, a neighborhood arts and cultural festival in the San Jose SoFa arts district. 

San Jose Downtown Association ($50,000) – Increasing vibrancy in downtown San Jose’s San Pedro Square district through support of the city’s largest public parklet, a sidewalk extension that provides more space and amenities for people using the street. Funding will also help establish a model for parklet construction in cities. 

Foundation Center ($35,000) – Supporting nonprofit organizations working to engage the community by providing networking opportunities, as well as fundraising and organizational support. 

Chopstick Alley Art ($33,000) – Helping to connect communities across San Jose by supporting Chopstick Alley Art, a nonprofit focused on San Jose’s Vietnamese American creative community. 

African American Community Service Agency ($30,000) –  Increasing civic engagement by supporting emerging community leaders through the African American Community Service Agency’s Black Leadership Matters 2018 program. 

School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza ($30,000) – Connecting residents and increasing city vibrancy through the Sonido Clash Music Festival, a music festival that explores traditional modern and emerging Latinx art and sound. 

The Tower Foundation at San Jose State University ($25,000) – Expanding the impact of Viva CalleSJ, a program that opens city streets to pedestrians, by supporting research on the social and economic impact of the project.

Centro Community Partners ($25,000) – Helping to expand opportunity in San Jose through a program that provides small business owners, specifically women and minority entrepreneurs, with access to resources including: education, leadership, financial literacy training and capital. 

Center for Media Change ($25,000) – Supporting emerging talent in San Jose by expanding Hack the Hood, a program that introduces young people of color to careers in tech.

Valley Verde  ($20,000) – Addressing food insecurity and promoting deeper community attachment among low-income families through environmentally sustainable organic gardening.

Funding for these projects forms one part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to support the urbanization of a traditionally sprawling city with a specific focus on central San Jose and how the city’s core can attract and retain talent, expand opportunity and build a culture of civic engagement. Since 2008, Knight Foundation has invested more than $25 million in San Jose.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

CONTACT:

 Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646, [email protected]

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Building stronger democracies starts with local communities. It is at the local level where we make the decisions that have the most immediate impact on our lives — what our neighborhoods look like; the kinds of roads and transit we use; the libraries and community centers we build; how to keep our streets clean and safe; and what it’s like to work, go to school, start a business and have a family in the places we live. 

At Knight Foundation, our approach is to help communities discover their own right answers to these questions. Each community needs to work with what it has, learn from the mistakes and successes of others and, simultaneously, look to the future. 

We know that cities across the country are grappling with rapid change — from disruptions to industry and information exchange brought on by technology, to shifting demographics and new demands from residents. At the same time, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to building successful communities. Those that adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing environment do so by providing people with the information they need to contribute, engaging residents across backgrounds and staying authentic to place.

The work Knight does in community mirrors how our founders, brothers Jack and Jim Knight, ran their company. All the editors from the different papers reported to Jack Knight, and all the publishers to Jim. The idea was to preserve both the independence of the news operation from the business, and to recognize that each newspaper needed to be distinct and authentic to its community. As Jack Knight once said, “The newspaper editor must also be the conscience of the community.” 

The Knight brothers sought to put their wealth to work in the same communities that had enabled them to build and grow what was the largest newspaper company in America. Today, Knight Foundation maintains that deep commitment to community, working in 26 towns and cities across the country. 

Together, they are America. The largest community is Philadelphia at 1,580,000 people. The smallest is Milledgeville, Georgia, at 18,933. (And that’s just counting by city limits). They come from every major region. Some of the communities where we invest are at the leading edge of the economic expansion. Others are working to reverse decades of disinvestment and decline.

In each place, Knight seeks to tap into what is burgeoning in the community. Our Community and National Initiatives program focuses on supporting more informed and engaged communities through investments that attract and nurture talent, enhance opportunity and foster civic engagement.

There’s no one way to do this. Each community faces its own unique constellation of challenges and prospects. And, as social investors, we believe that our role is to support transformative impact. This means that we seek opportunities where we can support not only what is worthy, but what will affect meaningful, sustainable social change in the places where we work.

Our approaches are therefore as diverse as the places we work. In Miami, we have invested in the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem. In Philadelphia, we support public spaces as platforms for civic engagement and participation. In Akron, the Knights’ hometown, we invest in bringing residents downtown to grow and revitalize the city. 

We also recognize that there are opportunities that many communities face in common. Our work in National Initiatives spots these opportunities to accelerate our impact in specific communities while elevating what we and our partners are learning.

Currently, our National Initiatives program is focused on two areas. The first is our work in Smart Cities, intended to harness the growth of digital technology to improve how communities respond, connect to and engage with residents. Like the Knight brothers, we at the modern Knight Foundation are committed optimists when it comes to the positive power of technology. But we’re not naïve. As technology increasingly defines every facet of our lives in community—from how we interact, to how we purchase goods and services, to the way that we get around—our work is focused on putting residents in the driver’s seat of design, decision making and impact.  

The second area of focus is in the role of public spaces in fostering more informed and engaged communities. Through our work in specific communities, and through path-breaking multi-city partnerships such as Reimagining the Civic Commons, we have seen firsthand the transformative power of public places and spaces, from community parks to libraries to streets. These spaces support more engaged residents, a sense of connection to where people live and better information sharing. 

Both of these areas of focus are about how the structure of cities, whether physical or digital, can respond to and be directed by the people who live in them.

The values that animated the Knight brothers’ commitment to local democracies persist. In fact, a glance at the innovation we see in cities around the globe shows that the value of informed and engaged communities is as present and powerful as ever. Yet the challenges to ensuring those values guide decisions and realize their goals are new, dynamic and disruptive. In that context, we aim to honor our past by enabling communities to shape their futures.

Please ask questions and provide feedback on this article on Medium here.

Sam Gill is VP/Communities and Impact and Senior Adviser to the President at Knight Foundation. You can follow him on Twitter @thesamgill.

To educate and train Detroit-based community development organizations to effectively participate in the development projects being led by the public and private sectors.

To enhance the 2nd year of Macon’s Downtown Christmas Lights Extravaganza with a live, custom-scored, outdoor orchestral performance which will be synchronized to the Christmas Lights display for Opening Night of the Lights.

In Charlotte, residents are talking about their vision for creating fantastic public spaces. In the words of one resident, “We want a place for neighbors to come together that belongs to everyone!” 

Such conversations have been sparked by the release of the Assembly: Civic Design Guidelines, a groundbreaking playbook for creating well-designed and well-maintained public spaces as a force for building trust and healing divisions in local communities. Published by the Center for Active Design (CfAD), the Assembly Guidelines capture four years of research and collaboration drawing from 200+ studies, 50+ cities and dozens of expert advisors.

The City of Charlotte has been a leading contributor for the Assembly Guidelines, and several local design and placemaking initiatives—from Can Do Signs to GovPorch—are featured in the publication. In celebration of this collaborative achievement, Charlotte hosted CfAD for “Making the Case for Great Neighborhood Spaces”—a series of events held June 28-30 as part of the Building Community speaker series. The Assembly Guidelines and the Building Community series are both supported by Knight Foundation. 

For three days, the event series brought together a wide range of community members to talk about the connection between public spaces and civic life. CfAD gave a preview of the Assembly Guidelines, which offer evidence-based design and maintenance strategies for creating cities where people trust each other, have confidence in local institutions and actively work together to address local priorities. 

From city and county staff to the private sector design and development community, from local neighborhood advocates to pop-up events involving members of the public, everyone shared their ideas for creating and enhancing beloved neighborhood spaces throughout the city. 

The conversation couldn’t be more timely, as a recent report from the Trust for Public Land listed Charlotte at the very bottom of the pack in terms of park accessibility. According to Monica Holmes, planning coordinator and urban designer for the City of Charlotte, “While the ranking was certainly disappointing, it also served as a call to action. We know it’s time to work together to create great public spaces that connect all Charlotte residents.”

The local Assembly launch also coincided with Charlotte’s announcement of a new placemaking fund, which will provide opportunities for communities to beautify their own neighborhoods with small, quick projects.

The Assembly rollout in Charlotte illuminates three key lessons that other communities can apply: 

  1. The design of public spaces offers an essential tool for fostering civic life. Community-driven design efforts offer an ideal platform for building trust, encouraging participation in public life, maximizing local stewardship and fostering local democracy. Assembly’s original research efforts found that simple, low-cost design interventions such as seating, greenery, lighting and positive messaging can make people feel significantly more welcome in public spaces. 
  2. Neighborhood residents care deeply about their public spaces. Public spaces can offer a unique representation of local identity and create a sense of welcome for all community members. Charlotte’s successful neighborhood placemaking initiatives, such as Shamrock Gardens and the Embrace sculpture, clearly illustrate the potential of public spaces for bringing neighbors together.
  3. Cities should back up public space conversations with clear implementation opportunities. By pairing the Assembly rollout with an announcement of the neighborhood placemaking fund, Charlotte offered residents an inspiring path to build excitement around local implementation efforts.

We hope to continue to share these lessons widely so that many more people can benefit and create cities that belong to everyone. 

Suzanne Nienaber is the partnerships director at the Center for Active Design. 

To support TechCongress’ efforts to educate legislators and congressional staff on the importance of science and technology by recruiting Congressional Innovation Fellows that represent a diverse set of views.

The Smart Civic Playbook is an interactive website and process toolkit for municipalities to create their own framework for a smart and civic city.

To support the expansion of the Museum’s signature fundraising event (All That Jazz) by moving to a larger downtown venue (Macon Coliseum), securing an internationally recognized performing artist and attracting a larger and more diverse audience.

To expand a promising model of engagement in public spaces through a series of facilitated dinner conversations—first piloted through the Knight Cities Challenge.