Neighborhood Conservation: Political Choices Under the Community Development Block Grant Program

Abstract

difficult political choices for local officials who must respond to neighborhoods competing for scarce resources. The experience of Rochester, New York, the state's third largest city, closely parallels the national experience-shifts away from renewal and clearance activities to conservation and rehabilitation of marginal urban neighborhoods. Over the first six years of the CDBG program, Rochester officials changed from a general, inclusive approach to neighborhood conservation to a more targeted approach. These choices were shaped in response to local economic, demographic and political factors, including a well-organized network of neighborhood organizations. The article concludes that the Rochester experience led to strengthened relationships between neighborhood associations and city hall, but evidence of stabilization and revitalization in assisted city neighborhoods is inconclusive.