Near East Side Legacy Center exemplifies Indy LISC's "all for one" approach
LISC helps Indy help itself
By David Hoppe - "The real mission is to rebuild a quality of life," says Bill Taft (Executive Director of Indianapolis LISC) of LISC's approach to neighborhood revitalization, "that then makes people choose to live there, choose to invest there, choose to shop there. What it takes to get to that goal varies from neighborhood to neighborhood." For two decades, LISC in Indianapolis has been implementing a neighborhood approach to revitalization, where residents, business people, civic and government leaders, and many others work together to rebuild their communities. More[+]...
Rebirth of a theater revives a neighborhood
By Faye Fiore - When the Howard Theater opened in 1910, its grand façade staring down on the segregated streets of Washington D.C., they called it “the largest colored theater in the world.” The distinction may have been a civil rights disgrace, but the theater was the centerpiece on what came to be known as Black Broadway. Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye cut their artistic teeth there. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt sat in the audience. But like many of America’s downtown theaters, the Howard wound up in rusting decay, a neighborhood heirloom too complicated to rescue and too beloved to tear down. More[+]...
Rethinking the American dream
Q & A - Four years of devastating foreclosures clearly have taken their toll on both urban and suburban communities. LISC Executive Vice President Tina Brooks spent the last six months traveling across the country to visit many of these neighborhoods, witnessing the impact of increasing blight and considering the opportunities for recovery. More[+]...
