Community

Historically state, local and national governments have used numerous ways to improve communities from building simple neighborhood parks to launching wholesale clearances of urban centers for rebuilding.  The big projects of the 1960s and '70s, though, largely fell out of favor in the face of protests over the destruction of established neighborhoods leading to national grant programs focused more on rehabilitation.  State and national governments also attempt to push social policy affecting communities as in expanding financing for home ownership, a policy now being studied anew following the financial crisis of recent years.  Beyond government programs civic activists organize locally to promote everything from sports arenas to farmers markets often working with public bodies for funding and changes in law and policy.