Permanent Community Purpose
The land is designated to meet the needs of community forever or over a time span that lasts generations, building intergenerational economic and cultural vitality.
In our current economic and legal system, legally binding agreements such as covenants, ground-leases, and other enforceable contracts are useful tools for ensuring long-term community purpose. For some communities, such as in Indigenous communities, ensuring the permanence of community purpose may be as simple as engaging in ritual and public community commitment. Additionally, policies that create accountability at the neighborhood level such as through Equitable Development Zones, where zoning and land use is determined by and implemented by neighborhood-level governance, can be a means to ensure community purpose remains permanent.
Community Vision
Africatown Community Land Trust
Africatown Community Land Trust is working for community ownership of land in the Central District that can support the cultural and economic thriving of people who are part of the African diaspora in the Greater Seattle region. Africatown helped to complete the Liberty Bank Building, which includes affordable housing and community-rooted commercial spaces. Africatown is now building Africatown Plaza, affordable housing with commercial, office and community space; transforming a former fire station into an institution of innovation, creativity, and business development; and leading development of the Youth Achievement Center, a youth centric housing and resource center.
TraeAnna Holiday,
Ambassador, Africatown Community Land Trust
“
Africatown engages community at almost every level of each development project it leads and works on. Understanding the value of community voice and building with the community is essential to the work of ACLT. This creates a framework for permanent community purpose by ensuring their development projects are fulfilling a need that's been addressed by the community. Over time, these buildings will be institutions, known and used by families intergenerationally because the community was at the root of how these buildings were created.
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As we look at how gentrification and for-profit development has caused significant disruption and displacement to the community that has called the Central District home for 140 years, it's important that ACLT, who is birthed from the community, approach development differently. As an entity, we must center the voices of those who have been left out of the process for far too long. We have to prove to them that we fully understand the value that they bring to these projects. The thriving existence we aim to create and bring back to the CD is our driving force, so this principle is at the heart of our work.
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Speculative developers are driven by their return on investment. Community stewardship of land is important because it's necessary to create the communities we work diligently to build and need to thrive. We had it in the Central District before: community hubs, clubs, institutions- all stewarded by community, owned by community, operated by community. It was a time of thriving in our purpose. The model of community stewardship of land is nothing new to our community. We must be reminded of this now and return to the models that have always worked for us. Ownership, stewardship, agency, brilliance...it's all there for us to claim now and build accordingly.”