Governing: The Need to Link Climate Resilience With Economic Opportunity

Promising initiatives around the country show what can be done in struggling neighborhoods.

Editorial manager for the Democracy Collaborative

Can cities that are working to shore up their physical resilience in the face of climate change build up the economic resilience of their struggling neighborhoods at the same time? It's a question of special relevance for low-income communities, which are often the most vulnerable to the destructive impact of a changing climate and lack the resources needed for recovery from flooding, fires and other weather-driven disasters.

That question is already being answered by some forward-thinking cities that are creating blueprints for addressing both issues on the neighborhood level -- blueprints that could guide efforts in other cities.

One such promising initiative is underway in the Portland, Ore., neighborhood of Cully. A residential area in the city's northeast section, Cully is predominantly low-income with a large concentration of Latino and Latina residents. Verde Landscape, a community-based enterprise created by the nonprofit organization Hacienda, is partnering with the city to forge a model that fuses green infrastructure with building community wealth, offering people with limited skills and work history a pipeline to good jobs and even businesses of their own.

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Courtesy of Governing