Community building goes beyond community organizing and other initiatives involved in making systemic change happen. It has come to stand for a more comprehensive approach to community strengthening and renewal. It is based on an understanding that the best way to improve conditions (poverty, education, justice, relationships) requires investment by people and the development of relationships and structures that work together to sustain that investment. What is important about this for those who work with youth is that the necessary changes to support youth must be made at the community level with a wide spectrum of people and resources. Youth must be fully engaged and involved and at the center of these change efforts. Youth development is the ongoing growth process whereby youth engage in meeting their own basic personal and social needs: where they work with adults to help secure environments where they feel safe, cared for, valued, useful, and well-grounded; where they help themselves build the skills and competencies that will allow them to function as effective members of society and to have fulfilling daily lives. When the principles and practices of youth development are merged with those of community building, the potential is great for the creation of a powerful process and force that engages youth in changing their communities. Drawing on the reports released by a number of organizations that outline the best principles and practices of community building, the author presents four of the most comprehensive lists of favorable characteristics for community building. This is followed by his own list of goals for community building, based on his years of involvement in this field. (Contains 6 notes.)