Section 6. Promoting Community-Friendly Policies in Business and Goverment

This video illustrates how community partners worked with local businesses to improve access to healthy, affordable foods.

 

Consider two different approaches a business might take when entering a community.

One company might build on undeveloped land without fully considering effects on nearby ecosystems, transportation, housing, schools, or infrastructure. It might bring most of its workforce from elsewhere, make limited investments in the surrounding community, and comply only with the minimum environmental or community requirements.

Another company might work with residents, local government, environmental organizations, workers, and other community partners before development begins. It might reuse an existing site, invest in energy efficiency, hire and train local workers, provide strong employee benefits, support childcare and transportation, protect nearby natural resources, and contribute to local education, community organizations, and economic development.

These examples represent different approaches to the relationship between an organization and the community in which it operates. In practice, businesses and governments make many decisions involving tradeoffs among economic, social, health, cultural, and environmental goals.

This section examines policies that businesses and governments can adopt to support community health, development, quality of life, and long-term well-being. It also considers how community members can participate in developing and evaluating those policies.

What do we mean by community-friendly policies?

Community-friendly policies are policies that support the well-being of the community and the people who live, work, learn, and participate there. They may strengthen social connection, expand opportunity, protect health and the environment, support economic stability, preserve valued community assets, or help communities adapt to change.

What counts as community-friendly will vary according to local circumstances and priorities. A policy that is useful in one community may not fit another. For that reason, decisions should be informed by community knowledge, relevant evidence, and the experiences of people who will be affected.

Community-friendly policies often have several characteristics:

• They consider each community's circumstances, strengths, priorities, and challenges rather than assuming that one approach will work everywhere.
• They pay attention to community history, culture, social relationships, settlement patterns, and local knowledge.
• They support inclusion and participation so that people from different backgrounds and experiences can contribute to community life and decision-making.
• They consider how transportation, infrastructure, and development decisions may affect existing neighborhoods, community connections, and displacement.
• They seek to avoid discrimination and unnecessary disparities in access, opportunity, services, or investment.
• They protect and maintain natural resources, cultural resources, and valued elements of community history.
• They support health, safety, economic security, accessibility, and quality of life while considering how costs and benefits are distributed across the community.

Ideally, community impact would be considered whenever significant policies are developed. Businesses, public agencies, and community organizations can ask not only whether a policy accomplishes an immediate institutional goal, but also how it affects the wider community over time.

Community-friendly policies can be social, economic, health-related, environmental, cultural, or connected to several of these areas at once. They may come from government, business, nonprofit organizations, institutions, or partnerships among them.

What are some examples of community-friendly policies?

Community-friendly social policies

Social policies influence how people participate in community life, access opportunities and services, interact with institutions, and experience rights and responsibilities.

Governments, businesses, schools, health systems, nonprofit organizations, and other institutions can all adopt social policies.

Examples of community-friendly social policies:

• Affordable housing policies. Rental assistance, affordable-housing development, preservation of existing affordable units, and incentives for mixed-income development can help expand housing options and reduce housing instability.
• Pedestrian-friendly public spaces. Sidewalks, public plazas, trails, traffic calming, accessible streetscapes, and other public spaces can support walking, social connection, recreation, and local businesses.
• Policies prohibiting discrimination. Governments and organizations can establish and enforce protections related to housing, employment, education, public accommodations, lending, and other areas.
• Accessible public transportation. Reliable transportation can connect people with employment, education, health care, shopping, recreation, and community life while reducing dependence on private vehicles.
• Language access and accessible communication. Interpretation, translation, captioning, sign language interpretation, accessible digital materials, plain language, and other communication supports can make public participation and services more accessible.
• Reuse of existing buildings and previously developed land. Rehabilitation and adaptive reuse can preserve community assets, reduce unnecessary land consumption, and create housing, business, cultural, or community space.
• Family-friendly workplace policies. Paid leave, childcare support, flexible scheduling, predictable work hours, and other policies can help workers balance employment and caregiving responsibilities.
• Workplace education and training. Employers may support English-language learning, digital skills, literacy, professional development, apprenticeships, credentialing, and other learning opportunities connected with workers' goals.
• Support for employee community participation. Employers may provide paid volunteer time or other support for employees who contribute to nonprofit organizations, community boards, schools, or other community efforts.
• Support for arts and culture. Businesses and governments can support performances, public art, cultural organizations, community events, and opportunities for local artists.
• Support for recreation. Parks, sports programs, recreation centers, trails, and other opportunities can contribute to physical activity, social connection, and community life.
• Transportation options. Public transportation, employer shuttles, vanpools, biking infrastructure, and accessible transportation can support older adults, people with disabilities, workers, students, households without reliable vehicles, and others who need transportation alternatives.

Community-friendly economic policies

Economic policy affects employment, wages, housing, business development, taxation, infrastructure, education, and people's ability to meet basic needs and pursue economic goals.

Community-friendly economic policies can help expand economic security and opportunity while supporting the long-term stability of the community.

Examples of community-friendly economic policies:

• Place-based economic and community development. Public and private investment can support neighborhoods and communities that have experienced disinvestment through infrastructure, locally owned businesses, housing, workforce development, public spaces, and other community-identified priorities.
• Fair and inclusive hiring practices. Employers and governments can reduce unnecessary barriers in recruitment, hiring, promotion, and retention and expand access to employment for people and communities that have historically faced discrimination or limited opportunity.
• Tax incentives connected with community goals. Governments may use carefully designed incentives to support investment in communities that have experienced disinvestment, environmentally responsible practices, affordable housing, accessibility, or expanded employment opportunities.
• Education and workforce investment. Public investment can expand access to schools, community colleges, universities, apprenticeships, workforce training, adult education, and other learning opportunities.
• Community development funding. Public grants, loans, and other investments may support housing, infrastructure, public facilities, economic development, and services in communities where additional investment is needed.
• Community reinvestment and responsible lending. Financial institutions and public policy can support fair access to credit, responsible lending, small-business development, homeownership, affordable housing, and investment in historically underserved communities.
• Career pathways and advancement. Employers can provide training, mentoring, apprenticeships, tuition support, transparent promotion processes, and opportunities for workers to move from entry-level positions into roles with greater responsibility and compensation.
• Employee ownership and participation. Depending on the organization, profit-sharing, employee stock ownership, cooperatives, or other approaches may give workers a greater financial stake or role in the organization. These approaches should be designed with attention to financial risk and worker protections.
• Support for local businesses and producers. Local purchasing policies can help circulate resources within the community and strengthen relationships among businesses, farms, institutions, and residents.
• Access to responsible small-dollar financing. Community lenders, credit unions, nonprofit organizations, and other institutions may help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital when conventional financing is difficult to obtain.

Small-dollar lending and microfinance can expand opportunity in some settings, but access to credit alone does not eliminate poverty. Outcomes depend on interest rates, repayment requirements, market conditions, borrower protections, business opportunities, and the broader economic environment.

Community-friendly health policies

Health is shaped by more than medical care. Housing, education, food, income, transportation, environmental conditions, working conditions, social connection, safety, and access to health services all influence community health.

Examples of community-friendly health policies:

• Walking and biking infrastructure. Greenways, sidewalks, bike lanes, trails, and other accessible routes can support physical activity, transportation, recreation, and reduced vehicle pollution.
• Smoke-free environments and tobacco-use prevention. Policies can reduce exposure to secondhand smoke while being paired with evidence-informed cessation resources for people who want to stop using tobacco or nicotine products.
• Public recreation facilities. Parks, swimming pools, courts, skate parks, recreation centers, trails, and sports facilities can provide accessible opportunities for physical activity and social connection across the lifespan.
• Access to health care. Public policy, employers, health systems, and community organizations can contribute to affordable and accessible preventive, primary, behavioral, dental, reproductive, and specialty care.
• Support for physical activity and well-being. Employers may provide active transportation benefits, recreation opportunities, wellness spaces, flexible schedules, or access to community facilities.
• Nutritious and culturally relevant food options. Workplaces, schools, health facilities, restaurants, and other organizations can expand the availability, affordability, and variety of foods that support health while respecting individual choice and cultural preferences.
• Protection of air and water quality. Businesses and governments can prevent, reduce, and monitor harmful emissions and discharges and invest in cleaner technologies and environmental protections.
• Employee assistance and behavioral health support. Employers may provide confidential mental health services, substance use treatment and recovery support, financial counseling, stress-management resources, and other services.
• Preventive health services. Employers, health systems, and community organizations may make screenings, vaccinations, preventive care, health education, and referrals easier to access.

Health-promoting workplace practices can benefit both workers and employers, but programs should respect privacy and avoid treating worker health only as a means of increasing productivity.

Community-friendly environmental policies

Community environments include natural systems, built environments, working lands, parks, public spaces, transportation networks, and other places where people live and interact.

Community-friendly environmental policies seek to protect environmental quality, reduce harmful exposure, conserve resources, strengthen climate resilience, and create accessible and livable built environments.

Examples of community-friendly environmental policies:

• Protected natural areas. Governments, land trusts, Tribal governments, communities, and other organizations may protect wildlife habitat, open space, forests, wetlands, waterways, and other environmentally or culturally important places.
• Environmental review of development. Planning and review processes can examine potential effects on air, water, land, wildlife, climate, transportation, health, and surrounding communities before major projects move forward.
• Environmental laws and standards. Air-quality, water-quality, waste-management, chemical-safety, cleanup, and emissions requirements can protect both ecosystems and community health.
• Conservation easements and working-land protection. These tools can help preserve farmland, habitat, open space, culturally important landscapes, and other valued resources while allowing landowners to retain ownership.
• Waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting. Communities can reduce the amount of material sent to landfills and encourage more efficient use of materials through collection systems, product design, reuse, repair, and recycling.
• Energy-efficient buildings. New construction and renovation can reduce energy use, improve indoor environmental quality, and incorporate renewable energy, efficient water systems, insulation, natural lighting, and other features.
• Community stewardship programs. Businesses, resident groups, schools, nonprofits, and other organizations may participate in litter cleanup, stream restoration, park maintenance, tree planting, and other stewardship activities.
• Urban forestry and green infrastructure. Trees, rain gardens, native plantings, shade, permeable surfaces, and other green infrastructure can reduce heat, manage stormwater, improve air quality, and strengthen public spaces.
• Cleaner technologies and operations. Businesses and governments can invest in technologies and practices that reduce pollution, conserve water and energy, lower emissions, and prevent environmental harm.

Community priorities may sometimes conflict. Preserving open space may compete with housing or commercial development. New infrastructure may create environmental benefits while causing short-term disruption. Environmental cleanup requirements may raise difficult questions about responsibility and cost.

For that reason, no policy should be labeled community-friendly simply because it produces one desirable outcome. Decision-makers and community members should consider who benefits, who bears costs, what alternatives exist, what long-term effects may occur, and whether people affected by the decision have meaningful opportunities to participate.

Why promote community-friendly policies?

Policies shape the conditions in which people live, work, learn, travel, raise families, build businesses, and participate in community life. Community-friendly policies can help align those decisions with long-term community goals.

• Community-friendly policies can improve quality of life. Investments in education, transportation, housing, public spaces, recreation, health, and other community resources can benefit residents and strengthen the community over time.
• Community-friendly policies can advance equity. Policies can reduce unnecessary barriers and expand access to housing, employment, education, transportation, health care, and other opportunities for people and communities that have historically had less access.
• Community-friendly policies can support inclusion and belonging. Policies that respect differences and remove barriers can help more people participate fully in community life.
• Community-friendly policies can support a strong local economy. Good schools, transportation, housing, public spaces, environmental quality, and community services can contribute to workforce stability, business development, and the overall attractiveness of a community.
• Community-friendly policies can support health, environmental quality, economic security, and social well-being. These outcomes are closely connected and should be considered together.

What can make community-friendly policy difficult?

People and organizations may have different priorities, values, financial interests, responsibilities, and understandings of an issue. Economic development, environmental protection, housing, transportation, public spending, and other goals can sometimes compete with one another.

Those differences do not necessarily mean that one side does not care about the community. They may reflect real tradeoffs or different experiences of the same issue.

Inclusive planning can help participants identify where interests overlap, where genuine conflicts remain, who may experience benefits or burdens, and whether alternative approaches could better balance competing goals.

When would you promote community-friendly policies?

Community impact can be considered whenever important policies or investments are being developed or reviewed. Some moments provide particularly useful opportunities for participation:

• When a policy is being developed or reviewed. Legislative sessions, agency reviews, planning processes, organizational policy reviews, budget discussions, and public hearings may provide opportunities to examine community impacts.
• When a new development, construction project, transportation project, park, or community initiative is being planned. Early participation can help incorporate accessibility, environmental protection, housing, transportation, public-space, workforce, and other community considerations before major decisions are finalized.
• When an important community resource or service may be lost. Proposed cuts, closures, demolition, environmental changes, or other major decisions may warrant a careful review of community impacts and alternatives.
• When community members are raising concerns or identifying a shared priority. Resident organizing, community assessments, public meetings, research, or other forms of engagement may show that an issue deserves additional attention.
• When community members are invited to participate in planning or policy development. Use the opportunity to share relevant evidence, community knowledge, potential benefits and burdens, and long-term considerations.

Who should promote community-friendly policies?

Ideally, decisions about what is community-friendly are made through processes that include people and organizations affected by the policy, people responsible for implementing it, decision-makers, and people with relevant community, professional, technical, or lived expertise.

No single organization or group should automatically assume that it speaks for the entire community.

Depending on the issue, participants may include:

• Residents and other people directly affected by the policy
• Resident-led groups, advocates, and community organizers
• Communities with particular interests or experiences, such as multilingual communities, public-housing residents, parents and caregivers, workers, people with lower incomes, people with disabilities, business owners, or others affected by the issue
• Public officials and other public decision-makers
• Public employees who may implement or administer the policy
• Community-based organizations and coalitions
• Schools, colleges, universities, libraries, and other educational institutions
• Businesses, workers, labor organizations, health systems, environmental organizations, professional associations, and others with relevant responsibilities or expertise

Participation should be meaningful rather than symbolic. People should understand what decisions are open to influence, what constraints exist, and how their input will be considered.

How do you promote community-friendly policies?

This part of the section shares some themes with Section 11 of this chapter. Both emphasize community participation, research, communication, and practical approaches to policy development.

Developing community-friendly policy may require changes not only in individual rules, but also in how organizations and communities think about economic development, health, equity, environmental responsibility, accessibility, and community participation.

Decide where to start

You are unlikely to address every community concern at once. Start with an issue that matters to the community and where realistic opportunities for improvement exist.

Involve people from several parts of the community early in the process. A broad-based coalition or participatory planning effort can help identify different priorities, strengths, concerns, and possible tradeoffs.

For example, work related to housing instability could include people with lived experience of homelessness or housing insecurity, housing organizations, employers, health and human service organizations, developers, landlords, local government, neighborhood groups, and other relevant partners.

Rather than assuming that people experiencing homelessness primarily need to "learn skills" or change their behavior, examine the full range of contributing conditions, including housing supply and cost, income, employment, health and behavioral health services, discrimination, transportation, disability, family circumstances, and access to supportive services.

Community surveys, listening sessions, interviews, focus groups, assessments, and other engagement methods can help identify which issues residents consider important.

A first step should be substantial enough to matter but realistic enough to accomplish. A transportation initiative, for example, might begin with improving one route, adding evening service, improving accessibility, or addressing a specific service gap before pursuing a larger system redesign.

Do your homework

Before recommending a policy, understand the issue, the evidence, the experiences of people affected, available alternatives, and potential costs and benefits.

Areas to research may include:

• Other communities or organizations that have addressed similar issues
• Policies that have been implemented elsewhere and what is known about their results
• Evidence-informed or promising practices
• Community strengths, priorities, and barriers
• Alternatives to the initial proposal
• Potential costs, funding sources, and resource requirements
• Potential benefits and how they may be distributed
• Potential unintended consequences or groups that may experience additional burdens

Research can include community data, academic and professional literature, government information, evaluations, interviews, lived experience, community organizations, businesses, public agencies, and other appropriate sources.

Take concerns and disagreements seriously. Evidence that challenges your initial idea may reveal ways to improve the proposal or show that another strategy would work better.

Help develop workable options

Rather than presenting only one predetermined solution, help the community examine several options and the tradeoffs associated with each.

Approaches may include:

• Public-private partnerships. Governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and other partners may share costs and responsibilities when their goals overlap.
• Community stewardship. Residents, volunteers, neighborhood organizations, or user groups may help maintain parks, trails, gardens, cultural resources, and other community assets when participation is appropriate and adequately supported.
• Pilot programs. A smaller-scale effort can help test an idea, identify implementation problems, gather participant feedback, and improve the approach before a larger investment.
• Incentives. Governments or organizations may provide financial or other benefits to encourage practices that support identified community goals.
• Fees or dedicated revenue. Some services and facilities may use fees, taxes, grants, or a combination of revenue sources. Consider affordability and equitable access when designing these systems.
• Recognition. Communities may recognize organizations that demonstrate measurable commitments to environmental responsibility, accessibility, worker well-being, local investment, or other community priorities.

Be clear about benefits, costs, and tradeoffs

Avoid assuming that every community-friendly proposal will benefit everyone equally or create no costs. Housing, transportation, environmental, economic-development, and other policies often involve genuine tradeoffs.

Explain what the proposal is intended to accomplish, what evidence supports it, what resources are required, who may benefit, who may experience costs or disruption, and how unintended effects will be addressed.

Transparent discussion strengthens decision-making and can reveal improvements that would otherwise be overlooked.

Recognize effective community contributions

Businesses, public agencies, community organizations, resident groups, workers, and individuals that contribute meaningfully to community goals can be recognized publicly when appropriate.

Recognition should be based on meaningful practices and results rather than image alone. It should also acknowledge that community change usually depends on many contributors rather than a single organization or individual.

Communicate clearly and consistently

Share information with community members, businesses, public agencies, workers, organizations, and others who may be affected by or interested in the issue.

Communication channels may include:

• Local and community media
• Labor unions and worker organizations
• Chambers of Commerce and other business associations
• Resident groups, community organizers, and community-based organizations
• Professional associations
• Appropriate communication with public decision-makers
• Direct communication with relevant businesses and organizational leaders
• Community meetings, newsletters, websites, social media, surveys, listening sessions, and other accessible communication channels

Communication should be two-way. Providing information is important, but so is creating opportunities for questions, disagreement, feedback, and revision.

Community participation should also be made accessible. Depending on the setting, that may include childcare, transportation, interpretation, captioning, disability accommodations, virtual participation, scheduling options, or compensation for substantial community participation.

Build broad participation

Community-friendly policy is generally stronger when it incorporates several kinds of knowledge and experience rather than relying only on people with formal authority or institutional influence.

Participants may include:

• Labor unions and worker organizations
• Workers and families
• Resident groups, advocates, and community organizers
• Community organizations and institutions, including faith communities, health systems, colleges, universities, libraries, and cultural organizations
• Businesses and business associations
• Public agencies and public officials
• Community members with relevant knowledge, relationships, or lived experience

Be clear about whose perspectives are represented and whose may still be missing. Broad participation does not mean everyone will agree, but it can help decision-makers understand the range of consequences and priorities involved.

Participate in appropriate decision-making and civic processes

The appropriate approach depends on whether the decision belongs to a business, public agency, local government, legislature, school system, or another institution.

Possible forms of participation include:

• Direct communication with businesses. Community members, workers, organizations, and businesses may meet to discuss concerns, evidence, possible changes, and areas of shared interest.
• Collective bargaining and worker-management processes. When applicable, labor organizations and employers may address workplace policies through established negotiation processes.
• Business, professional, and trade-association participation. Associations may develop voluntary standards, provide technical assistance, share evidence, or participate in policy discussions.
• Public-policy participation. Organizations and community members may provide information, attend public meetings, submit comments, participate in hearings, or communicate with public officials through appropriate channels.
• Public communication and media engagement.
• Community organizing and other lawful civic participation. Residents and organizations may use petitions, public meetings, demonstrations, administrative complaints, legal processes, or other lawful approaches to raise concerns and participate in decision-making.

Different forms of participation fit different situations. Begin by understanding who has authority, what formal process exists, what rights and responsibilities participants have, and what evidence and community perspectives are relevant.

Collaboration can be useful when people and institutions share enough common purpose to work together. In other situations, substantial disagreements may remain. The goal should not be to eliminate disagreement or pressure everyone toward one predetermined position, but to make sure decisions are informed by reliable evidence, community experience, transparent processes, and consideration of likely benefits, costs, and unintended consequences.

Continue evaluating community-friendly policies over time

Community conditions, evidence, technologies, economic circumstances, and priorities change. Policies that worked well at one point may need to be revised later.

Continue asking:

• Is the policy achieving its intended goals?
• Who is benefiting?
• Who may be experiencing unintended burdens?
• Are community members able to participate meaningfully in decisions?
• Have new circumstances or evidence changed what the community needs?
• Are resources being distributed fairly and effectively?
• Should the policy continue, change, expand, or end?

The long-term goal is not to preserve every policy indefinitely, but to make consideration of community impact a regular part of decision-making.

In Summary

Community-friendly policies are social, economic, health, environmental, and organizational policies that contribute to community well-being while respecting differences, protecting important community resources, expanding opportunity, and considering how benefits and burdens are distributed.

What counts as community-friendly cannot always be determined in advance. Communities may face real tradeoffs involving housing, employment, transportation, economic development, environmental protection, public spending, cultural preservation, and other priorities.

Strong policy processes therefore include people directly affected by the issue, community organizations, businesses, workers, public agencies, technical experts, and others with relevant knowledge and responsibilities.

Useful steps include identifying an achievable starting point, gathering reliable information, examining alternatives and tradeoffs, developing workable options, communicating clearly, creating meaningful opportunities for community participation, and evaluating results over time.

The long-term goal is to make community well-being a routine consideration in significant policy decisions and to create processes in which people across the community have meaningful opportunities to help shape the decisions that affect them.