The Hastings Crossing BIA Executive Director's report summarized the organization's activities over the past two years. In the first year, they focused on developing their brand, governance structures, and relationships in the community. In the second year, they built social capital through events, demonstrated value to local businesses through new programs, and received grants to support further programs. Upcoming priorities include expanding safety, advocacy, and planning initiatives while continuing to connect organizations in the neighborhood.
Hastings Crossing BIA - Social Innovation, Social Inclusion and the Tensions ...Wes Regan
Forming a new Business Improvement Area in a low-income community (that's in the midst of developmental pressures and change) takes careful consideration, collaboration and a unique approach to program development. Concerns of gentrification and displacement are valid as new businesses and new forms of development change the makeup of the retail mix and cultural experience of these urban communities. The arrival of new businesses, the growth of social enterprise and renewed interest in these areas can also be leveraged though. This presentation examines the creation and early programming focus of the Hastings Crossing BIA (formed in 2011) as it considered how best to go about supporting businesses and property owners, but in a way where culturally appropriate and socially inclusive programming would not further alienate or discriminate against low-income residents who showed concern for such things as policing of public spaces, criminalization of poverty, displacement and loss of local community assets.
Hastings Crossing BIA - Social Innovation, Social Inclusion and the Tensions ...Wes Regan
Forming a new Business Improvement Area in a low-income community (that's in the midst of developmental pressures and change) takes careful consideration, collaboration and a unique approach to program development. Concerns of gentrification and displacement are valid as new businesses and new forms of development change the makeup of the retail mix and cultural experience of these urban communities. The arrival of new businesses, the growth of social enterprise and renewed interest in these areas can also be leveraged though. This presentation examines the creation and early programming focus of the Hastings Crossing BIA (formed in 2011) as it considered how best to go about supporting businesses and property owners, but in a way where culturally appropriate and socially inclusive programming would not further alienate or discriminate against low-income residents who showed concern for such things as policing of public spaces, criminalization of poverty, displacement and loss of local community assets.
Hastings Crossing BIA is Canada's first Social Innovation Business Improvement Area. The 2014 Executive Director's Report highlights the programming and advocacy of the organization from 2011-2014 and showcases the various Community Economic Development focused projects of the organization.
Huntsville, Alabama is one of the most recognized cities in the Southeast - named as one of the best places to live and work by a variety of national publications and recognized as a premier location for both business and quality of life. Recently, Forbes named Huntsville one of the nation’s Top 10 Places for Business and Careers. In 2012, the City of Huntsville launched a citizen engagement campaign that solicited public feedback on subjects such as park revitalization and improvements to the historic district. It served as an online town hall and was used to make numerous decisions about city planning.
Learn how the City of Huntsville:
- launched the BIG Picture, an 18-month comprehensive master urban planning initiative that would shape the future of Huntsville for decades to come
- fostered dialogue within the community that was valuable, respectful, and appreciated by citizens
- validated and fast-tracked issues in the planning phase
CITY MEDIA is an independent foundation based in Lausanne (Switzerland). Its aim is to facilitate information access on towns, cities and regions of the world. It promotes and offers local representatives tools for expanding their official communication and getting involved in global development by simplifying information access and knowledge sharing. Their latest project is called [City].vi, a network of 68,000 video sites, each specific to a city.
Have you ever seen a problem in HCMC and wanted to do something about it?
Are you looking for a meaningful and effective community engagement project for yourself, your company and/or your family?
The Narrow the Gap Community Fund is a chance to join forces with people, like you, who care about our city and want to make it a better place. Throughout the year, LIN accepts cash and in-kind donations from individuals, companies and organizations that would like to partner in the Narrow the Gap Fund.
Christopher Lopez, Hemet City Manager presentation to Seven Hills. Update to community. Community Engagement and collaboration. This update reflects latest action items related to the Strategic Plan and various goals.
Guests included staff, elected officials. The update includes economic development, growth, budget, public safety, and other relevant updates.
The City launched a new website and new mechanisms to increase transparency and togetherness with the community.
There are updates related to Measure U, the City's 1% sales tax measure.
This session on how to engage residents in community change efforts was the first in the Community Matters webinar series from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
PowerPoint presentation given to downtown stakeholders at the first Downtown Nanticoke Alliance community forum.
Outlines the DNA Main Street economic development program initiative for downtown Nanticoke, PA.
Location: The Samantha Mill House, Nanticoke, PA.
Presented by: Frank L. Knorek Jr.
Date: 09/09/2010
A guest lecture presented to students at Simon Fraser University's School of Communications regarding emerging policy issues in the social innovation space, government downloading, trends and practices in social enterprise and typologies of social purpose ventures.
Hastings Crossing BIA is Canada's first Social Innovation Business Improvement Area. The 2014 Executive Director's Report highlights the programming and advocacy of the organization from 2011-2014 and showcases the various Community Economic Development focused projects of the organization.
Huntsville, Alabama is one of the most recognized cities in the Southeast - named as one of the best places to live and work by a variety of national publications and recognized as a premier location for both business and quality of life. Recently, Forbes named Huntsville one of the nation’s Top 10 Places for Business and Careers. In 2012, the City of Huntsville launched a citizen engagement campaign that solicited public feedback on subjects such as park revitalization and improvements to the historic district. It served as an online town hall and was used to make numerous decisions about city planning.
Learn how the City of Huntsville:
- launched the BIG Picture, an 18-month comprehensive master urban planning initiative that would shape the future of Huntsville for decades to come
- fostered dialogue within the community that was valuable, respectful, and appreciated by citizens
- validated and fast-tracked issues in the planning phase
CITY MEDIA is an independent foundation based in Lausanne (Switzerland). Its aim is to facilitate information access on towns, cities and regions of the world. It promotes and offers local representatives tools for expanding their official communication and getting involved in global development by simplifying information access and knowledge sharing. Their latest project is called [City].vi, a network of 68,000 video sites, each specific to a city.
Have you ever seen a problem in HCMC and wanted to do something about it?
Are you looking for a meaningful and effective community engagement project for yourself, your company and/or your family?
The Narrow the Gap Community Fund is a chance to join forces with people, like you, who care about our city and want to make it a better place. Throughout the year, LIN accepts cash and in-kind donations from individuals, companies and organizations that would like to partner in the Narrow the Gap Fund.
Christopher Lopez, Hemet City Manager presentation to Seven Hills. Update to community. Community Engagement and collaboration. This update reflects latest action items related to the Strategic Plan and various goals.
Guests included staff, elected officials. The update includes economic development, growth, budget, public safety, and other relevant updates.
The City launched a new website and new mechanisms to increase transparency and togetherness with the community.
There are updates related to Measure U, the City's 1% sales tax measure.
This session on how to engage residents in community change efforts was the first in the Community Matters webinar series from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
PowerPoint presentation given to downtown stakeholders at the first Downtown Nanticoke Alliance community forum.
Outlines the DNA Main Street economic development program initiative for downtown Nanticoke, PA.
Location: The Samantha Mill House, Nanticoke, PA.
Presented by: Frank L. Knorek Jr.
Date: 09/09/2010
A guest lecture presented to students at Simon Fraser University's School of Communications regarding emerging policy issues in the social innovation space, government downloading, trends and practices in social enterprise and typologies of social purpose ventures.
The Rise and Implications of Social Enterprise in East Vancouver Wes Regan
Social Enterprise has become an increasingly high profile concept in community economic development, but as government downloading and privatization continues to change the nature of service delivery and accountability in communities how do we best measure the full range of impacts social enterprise are increasingly expected to bring, mitigate potential externalities or negative impacts, and sort through the ambiguity that exists in the social economy space as they continue to proliferate? Social enterprise, social purpose business, social impact business, enterprising non profits, community interest company, community contribution company, for-profit social venture, non-profit social enterprise, the typologies alone are diverse and often interchangeable. This presentation was given to Groundswell Economic Alternatives School in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in January 2015 and builds on soon to be published research conducted by graduate students Wes Regan (SFU, Urban Studies) and Jeremy Stone (UBC SCARP) for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. It also builds on Regan's work over the past 6 years in community economic development and the trends he has seen in community micro-finance, social enterprise and business development and gentrification.
A presentation to new undergraduate students at Simon Fraser University considering a major in the Faculty of Environment from an alumnus of the university working in sustainable community economic development.
Affordability, Gentrification and Adaptation in Vancouver, CanadaWes Regan
Vancouver is one of a handful of global cities where real estate values have grown exponentially as investors from within North America and around the world continue to seek safe and attractive investment options. However, as home prices have continued to rise, Vancouver's average income levels have remained stagnant. The local housing market has become de-coupled from the local "real economy". This, along with increasing costs of child care, food and drinks, post secondary tuition, fuel, insurance and other factors have contributed to a crisis of affordability in the city.
The debate in Vancouver has been heated, with many framing the issue in terms of wealthy mainland Chinese often being the assumed cause of the housing price inflation, but at the same time the discourse in Vancouver has cautioned the city to not lay the blame for its un-affordability crisis one any one single group of people, particularly on basis of race or nationality. As this discourse is unfolding there is evidence of adaptation and innovation happening in both the property development sector, in local government, and in the local populations particularly affected by cost of living challenges, mainly younger adults choosing to remain in Vancouver. These are evidenced through such things as innovation in land use and planning, built form, social enterprise and the sharing economy.
Due to the nature of Vancouver's geography and the temporal pattern of development over the past few decades there is speculation, and early evidence, that developers and even the City of Vancouver itself are now focusing on Vancouver's Eastern neighbourhoods to absorb new housing as the downtown core and western neighbourhoods are believed to be nearly fully developed. This has caused concerns about displacement and gentrification and has resulted in numerous forms of activism. This blend of resistance, adaptation, innovation and speculation is examined through a discourse analysis of local media in Vancouver and numerous case studies highlighting examples of innovation, adaptation and resistance in the city. It was shared by Wes Regan, Executive Director of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association and Graduate Student at Simon Fraser University's Urban Studies Program, at the Urban Land Institute Cascadia Young Leaders Conference in Portland Oregon, July 2014.
Urban Farming is an emerging sector filled with great potential and many barriers. Policy makers and staff at the municipal level contribute to both the realization of this potential, through aspirational/activist policy making and risk-management rooted barriers that urban farming actors confront as their various forms of ventures challenge traditional land use and planning in western cities such as Vancouver, Canada. This presentation was given to students at the University of British Columbia's School of Community and Regional Planning in September of 2014 by Wes Regan, founding Director of the Vancouver Urban Farming Society and Co-Founder of Urban Stream Innovation, a food systems technology firm in Vancouver.
Community consultation on Green Collar Job creation in the inner-cityWes Regan
A brief presentation on the potential job creation role of Green Roofs, Solar Thermal Installations and Elastomeric roof painting (white roofs) in Vancouver's inner city.
2. First year 2010-2011
• Develop brand (brand alignment survey with local
businesses, shoppers, residents, RFP process etc.)
• Grow and develop our board and internal governance
• Foster good working relationships in the community
• Build legitimacy with funders, government, and
business community
• Begin identifying partnerships and other funding to
create major program streams
• Create awareness of our initial work and the fact that
we exist!
3. Second year
• Social Capital building: connecting local businesses and non-
profits/social enterprises together through speaking and
networking events
• Foster trust with neighbourhood organizations who are still learning
about us
• Influence discourse on DTES local economy, business, gentrification
and improve dialogue between poverty activists and businesses and
framing of DTES in the media
• Demonstrate value to local businesses and property owners by
rolling out important initial program streams – safety and security,
crime prevention, management of public spaces, advocacy on
behalf of business community on issues of policy, taxation, zoning
and permitting, approved uses, crime etc.
• Role out major program streams, including crime prevention, safety
and health of public spaces
4. Media as of late… (good media)
• BC Business Magazine
• Georgia Straight
• The Courier
• News 1130
• The Vancouver Observer
• Tweets from numerous council members, the
mayor, local foundations and non-profits, VEC
• Open File
5. Grants and Sponsorship received
• Great beginnings $15k for marketing and web
development
• $10k from COV and $5k from Real Estate
Foundation for hosting of first Vancouver
Urban Farming Forum (land use, policy,
regulations)
• $40k capital grant (split with SBIA) for more
urban trees and foliage along Pender and
Hastings – held up due to bureaucracy…
6. New website and Business Directory –
hot damn!
• http://thesum.ca/client/hxbia/website/
• http://www.sfu.ca/~clc7/hxbia_map/#
• Website Launching Friday
• Map and directory next week
10. Events we sponsored or organized
Taste Of Hastings (above) a networking event and
tasting tour of several local restaurants in partnership
with loco BC
Lunch Meet (Left) – funded by Viva Vancouver
HxBIA and The Vancouver Public Spaces Network
11. Battle of Hastings….
Immersive game played by over 300 people, brought them through several
businesses and public spaces looking for clues, including the Sun Tower (shown above)
12. More events we sponsored, supported
or helped organized…
• Fair in the Square (Central City Foundation)
• Victory Square Block Party (Megaphone)
• Word on the Street
• The Takeaway
• Local Area Planning Committee business
outreach and input workshop
• DNC Street Market
• Fashion Art Design Week (Potentially November)
• Victory Bootcamp (September - October)
13. Behind the scenes advocacy
• Connecting issues that small businesses face on
the ground with the City’s economic
development policy (Vancouver Economic
Commission)
• Local Area Planning Committee (Fought to keep
Victory Square and Chinatown Revitalization
Strategies from being vetoed by interim rezoning
policy)
• Inner-City NeighbourhoodCoalition 30 + orgs
• Inner-City Safety Society
• BIA Partnership
14. Program streams in development
• BIA Banner Program
• Continue building comprehensive safety, crime
prevention and environmental health initiative
• Local Area Plan
• Advocacy for improved permit facilitation, more
flexibility of approve uses, taxation and
zoning/assessment issues
• Friends of the Park Stewardship Committee
• COME TO ME WITH SUGGESTIONS