Over the last several years, Peaslee has worked with youth and other community residents to demand transparency in community development and commitment to investing in an inclusive community. As our neighborhood rapidly gentrifies, residents in our urban core are standing up, speaking out, developing their own plans for their community, attending public meetings, joining community councils and making a difference.
Our goal to shape civic infrastructure is one that requires movement building and leadership development, and lasting impact can only be achieved through the inclusion of our community’s youth. Youth members of the Keep Our Courts: Do Development Differently Campaign testified before City Council and created a community video seeking to save their basketball courts and green space from impending development.
Peaslee has also served as a space to work together across difference, hosting community dialogues to open conversation about the rapid changes across our community. Inspired and informed by these dialogues, and based on comprehensive research into best practices in other cities, is Peaslee’s Equitable Development Rubric and toolkit. The Rubric is one of four initiatives that make up the Communities Act Now (CAN) action platform to promote equitable development in Cincinnati.