Pratt Center Project
Building Resilient CommunitiesOne City/One Future
The One City/One Future Blueprint was the product of four years of a diverse collaboration to make economic development work for all New Yorkers.
One City/One Future, a collaboration between National Employment Law Project, New York Jobs with Justice, and Pratt Center, developed an ambitious new vision for economic development, in which growth delivers living wage jobs, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, and livable neighborhoods.
It provided an urgently needed framework for recovery from the current economic downturn. A vision for shared prosperity, it put the needs and voices of communities front and center. Most crucially it was pragmatic, proposing concrete policies that can be implemented here and now.
One City/One Future: A Blueprint for Growth That Works for All New Yorkers provided 54 recommendations for policies following three fundamental strategies:
Raise the Standards
Government should set clear standards for economic activity in New York City, especially activity that benefits from public spending or actions. Meeting these standards -- whether they concern the quality of jobs created or the environmental sustainability of new buildings -- must be a prerequisite for anyone doing business with the city.
Invest for Shared Growth
The city and state currently spend billions keeping New York's economy humming. These investments in housing, transportation, and employment need to be designed and managed with the explicit objective of improving opportunity and strengthening neighborhoods.
Reform the Process
Planning and development must take place in an open and democratic environment, in which communities and the city work as partners, not adversaries, with the objective of building a prosperous city on the strength of livable neighborhoods.
On May 14, 2009, One City/One Future sponsored a daylong Forum on Economic Development and Recovery to discuss the blueprint. The forum brought together hundreds of local stakeholders working to reinvent economic development policy in New York City with leaders in a position to make it happen, including New York City Economic Development Corporation president Robert Lieber, Local 32BJ SEIU President Mike Fishman, New York City Partnership CEO Kathryn Wylde, and New York Daily News columnist Errol Louis. Participants also heard from keynote speaker Cecilia Estolano, CEO of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles. Under Estolano's leadership and with the support of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, L.A. had become a national leader in using the power and property of city government to maximize economic opportunity through living wages, job training, and other measures.
For more information, read the full One City/One Future blueprint here.