An Act of Faith

The HCZ model might not work in every depressed urban center. But something else might work in those cities—or might already be working, albeit outside the media spotlight or the White House's embrace.

William Strickland, like Canada, has dedicated most of his adult life to working to counter urban poverty. He established the nonprofit Manchester Bidwell Corp. in 1968, in Pittsburgh's toughest district, first as an arts education resource for local schoolchildren and later, when Pittsburgh's steel industry collapsed, to provide vocational training for unemployed workers. Today, the corporation works with Pittsburgh public schools, placing artists in the classroom and offering a broad swath of after-school, summer and evening programs for kids and adults.

An overwhelming majority of teenagers who participate in Strickland's programs—90 percent—graduate from high school. Nearly as many go on to college or other postsecondary education. And at least 86 percent of job-training graduates—who can learn culinary arts, lab technology or horticultural skills, among a score of options—go on to paid employment.

A different approach revitalized East Lake Meadows in Atlanta. There, developers bet that building mixed-income housing would be the catalyst for community growth—and so far, it seems, the bet is paying off. Carol Naughton, speaking at "Changing the Odds," says that "the depth of the distress was liberating" in East Lake Meadows: In 1995, unemployment was rampant; only 13 percent of adults in East Lake Meadows had a job.

Crime was triple that of downtown Atlanta— East Lake marked a murder a week, on average— and 18 times the national average. Only 5 percent of schoolchildren met state-testing standards. "Our ideas, our program, was so audacious that nobody believed it would work," said Naughton.

The construction of 542 mixed-income residences—half now occupied at market rates and half subsidized by Section 8 housing vouchers—was enriched by the creation of the Drew Charter School, where 84 percent of students now meet state standards for reading and 94 percent for math. The project also includes a community center, early-childhood resources, a YMCA and a public 18-hole golf course. Only 5 percent of adults in East Lake Meadows are now unemployed, another hallmark of the redeveloped neighborhood, which has its own service and support pipeline featuring multiple college partnerships that bring college students into the community and, by doing so, provide living, breathing role models for local schoolchildren.

Other local approaches to combating poverty have been tried from Savannah to Philadelphia to Oakland, with mixed results

The Obama administration's decision to require school-based approaches to poverty reduction means the Promise Neighborhoods initiative is unlikely to support projects that mirror the Manchester Bidwell or East Lake Meadows models—efforts built around job training and housing, respectively. By the same token, cities like Orlando, Fla., where the mayor and other civic leaders have launched a series of HCZ-based reforms, cannot apply for funding, because it is restricted to nonprofits. States without charter schools, like Washington, may not be legally able to dedicate a public school to Promise Neighborhood development.

Cities where court desegregation rulings require busing cannot provide the centrally located school model that the Promise Neighborhoods require. And efforts already under way are not eligible for the funding either; only newcomers need apply.