The Milwaukee County Park Commission, private industry, and the governments of surrounding counties are cooperating in the improvement and lengthening of a bike trail which will eventually provide 66 miles of recreational bicycling. (JD)

Subdivisions are the dominant form of new housing, characterized by nonlinear patterns, pure residential land use, and resident homogeneity. Advocates traditional small town approach to development, which provides a range of residents and opportunities for frequent social interactions. Recommends strategies to overcome barriers to small town…

Gender as well as the structure of women's lives are important variables that must be included in social analysis. Although there appear to be linkages between community organizing theory and women's movement organizing, there has been insufficient interchange of ideas and challenge of the theoretical assumptions. (JOW)

Research on summer learning losses has unambiguous implications for America: all children need learning opportunities in the summer. But how and when policymakers, educators, and youth service providers will fashion appropriate programming are far less clear. At the root of this problem is the need to vastly increase, stabilize, and coordinate…

Strategic development planning encompasses the setting of communitywide objectives; appraisal of external forces; analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and development of a community-owned strategic plan. As an appropriate method transferred from business, it overcomes criticisms of other community participatory planning…

This booklet discusses the importance of a community-wide approach to asset building, exploring how individuals, organizations, and communities can collaborate to build developmental assets. Principles to guide community asset-building efforts include: strengths versus risks or deficits, relationships versus programs, engagement with youth versus…

The recent history of an agricultural region of Central Kenya relates the details of the foundation of cooperatives. The social case of the study describes the desire of the inhabitants of part of the region to have a nursery school and the problems that came up among the inhabitants and the construction and planning of the school. (RR)

Craftspeople in eastern Nepal have demonstrated how they can use traditional skills to contribute both to economic development and environmental conservation. Their initiatives were achieved with little outside assistance and disruption to family life. (SK)

A survey of 26 human service agencies in an empowerment zone found the following: 73% used interns, few from social work; 57% used empowerment in mission statements (more economic than social agencies); 69% of these wanted community practice interns; and higher-budget agencies were better able to negotiate the empowerment zone system. (Contains 20…

This paper presents a picture of risk and challenge for youth in distressed communities and outlines how these communities can band together to create a continuum of supportive activities to bolster youth's success in school and life. As youth grow and develop, individualized support and exposure to new experiences has a significant impact on…

Aimed at community planning groups, this guide has been developed to help clarify the role and responsibilities of a facilitator involved with community planning. The booklet maintains that a facilitator's purpose is to help a group reach its own goals and to encourage those involved in community planning to contribute positively. It explains how…