SAVANNAH: THE LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE HUB AND RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES
Posted September 2, 2024
West Broad Street was the commercial core of Savannah’s Black and immigrant community until it was ravaged by construction of I-16 in the 1960s, resulting in the demolition of much of the neighborhood and leaving the area divided. Change may be coming. Earlier this year, Savannah received a federal grant to begin planning the highway’s removal as part of the Biden/Harris Administration’s first-of-its-kind Reconnecting Communities & Neighborhoods Initiative (RCN), which seeks to heal communities divided by past infrastructure choices.
Over the next two weeks, I am partnering with the Local Infrastructure Hub to highlight cities they have supported in pursuing and winning grants for reconnection through the RCN, and the history of the communities it will begin to stitch back together. Established and led by Bloomberg Philanthropies, which brings together support from Ballmer Group, Emerson Collective, the Ford Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and Waverly Street Foundation, the Local Infrastructure Hub is a national program that provides pro-bono technical assistance to often-overlooked small- and mid-sized cities, like Savannah, that are applying for federal grants for reconnection. Its partners include National League of Cities, The U.S. Conference of Mayors, Results for America, and Delivery Associates.
Through programs like the RCN, the Administration has made billions of dollars available to local governments for potentially transformative infrastructure investments. “Historically, bigger cities with substantial budgets tend to corner grant opportunities,” writes Patrick Sisson for Citylab. “Local governments without the expertise or budget to apply could be left out of the action. Lack of grant-writing capacity is a chronic complaint.” (1).
Across the country, the Local Infrastructure Hub seeks to close this capacity gap that short-staffed smaller cities face as a barrier to navigating, accessing, and applying for federal grants. While a lack of grant-writing capacity may seem like a small issue, it is crucial. In small cities like Savannah, with significant Black and Brown populations, the capacity/funding problem is especially acute, compounded by the legacy of disinvestment/devaluation through racist policies like redlining.
"We don’t want the Infrastructure Law [that created the RCN] to compound our geographic inequalities. We wanted it to be an equalizing moment," said James Anderson, head of the Government Innovation Program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, in an interview with Streetsblog. "We are asking local governments to do more and more, but we haven’t made a commensurate investment to help them do it… This is an opportunity to reduce the number of places that have been left out and left behind.” (2).
For cities of 150,000 or fewer, the Local Infrastructure Hub is now offering new pro-bono grant-writing bootcamps. Officials can sign up at LocalInfrastructure.org/application-bootcamp/. There are also trainings, strategy sessions, and events available for cities of all sizes at LocalInfrastructure.org.
For Savannah’s application, Senator Raphael Warnock, who was born and raised in Savannah in the shadow of I-16, described the highway’s impact on his neighborhood:
“The Old West Broad Street, which is the new MLK Jr. Boulevard was once the center of a thriving community and home to Black families and businesses, as well as many Asian and Jewish immigrants… However, in the 1960s, the federal government demolished and paved over landmark buildings, homes, and businesses for a new highway spur,” writes Warnock. “It is a dream of mine to see that community restored” (3). This grant, while a small step, is nonetheless progress towards realizing that dream.
As part of the potential plan, the highway spur will be removed and the many streets it divided will be reconnected. Equity will be a central component of the plan, hopefully ensuring as much benefit as possible goes to the existing community. Savannah’s grant includes money to not only study removing the highway, but also the creation of an Equitable Redevelopment Plan that “ensures any future use of the site gives back to the community,” says Director of Planning Bridget Lidy, including the construction of affordable & workforce housing to support businesses in the area and prevent gentrification (4).
More on the plan as it develops, and more on Savannah coming soon.
Endnotes:
Sisson, Patrick. “For US Cities in Need, Grant Writers Wanted.” Citylab, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-06-14/grant-writers-in-demand-as-smaller-cities-scramble-for-infrastructure-funds (accessed 8/15/2024). (@citylab @psiss).
Wilson, Kea. “How a New Program is Helping Small Cities Transform Their Transportation Systems.” Streetsblog, 2024. https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/08/21/how-a-new-program-is-helping-small-cities-transform-their-transportation-systems (accessed 8/31/2024). (@keareads).
Steuteville, Robert. “Historic Chance to Remove Highway Barrier, Reconnect Community.” Congress for the New Urbanism, 2022. https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2022/11/22/historic-opportunity-remove-barrier-reconnect-community (accessed 8/15/24). (@cnu_newurbanism).
Lasseter, Evan. “Savannah Awarded Key Grant to Plan I-16 Flyover Removal, Receives Support from Senator Warnock.” Savannah Morning News, 2024. https://eu.savannahnow.com/story/business/transportation/2024/03/15/savannah-awarded-key-grant-to-plan-i-16-flyover-removal/72943843007/ (accessed 8/15/2024). (@savannahnow).