NSI

In early 2009, NDNI created the Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative (NSI) which is focused on how, in the short term, we can identify and stabilize historically strong neighborhoods throughout Detroit in the wake of the foreclosure crisis and record unemployment. The identification strategy relies on data, both quantitative and qualitative, to point us in the direction of identifying neighborhoods destabilized by foreclosure and current economic conditions. These are to be distinguished from neighborhoods that have been destabilizing over time due to chronic and persistent disinvestment. Our Initiative acknowledges that if the historically strong neighborhoods are ignored and intervention is delayed, people with choices will continue to leave the City. As a result, tax revenues available to serve all Detroiters, particularly those in neighborhoods with the greatest need for services, will disappear and the City will ultimately not be able to recover. All Detroiters would lose.

Our short term Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative is built on a premise that there historically strong and viable neighborhoods need directed interventions now, before it’s too late. These neighborhoods recently destabilized by foreclosure cannot afford to wait the 12-18 months estimated for the City to complete the long-term land use plan because of the exodus of residents in these neighborhoods to the suburbs. Therefore, over the last year, NDNI has taken the lead in partnering with community stakeholders to quickly shore up these neighborhoods while the City determines its land use and economic framework for the long term. Most important to our role is the ability to strategize around land control through our partnerships and collaboration with stakeholders such as the Detroit Vacant Property Campaign, Data Driven Detroit, Office of Foreclosure Prevention and Response (OFPR), Planning and Development Department (P& DD), Neighborhood Community Stabilization Trust NCST), Detroit LISC, the Detroit Land Bank Authority, the MSHDA Land Bank and various community- based organizations (CBO’s).