Community Development
United States Developments in 2025
Community development in 2025 continued to evolve toward more inclusive, grassroots-driven approaches across the nation. Community Organizing and Advocacy: Local community organizing proved its power repeatedly in 2025. In cities from coast to coast, residents mobilized to influence development decisions, often successfully. For instance, in Los Angeles, neighborhood coalitions won stronger tenant protections and dedicated funding for anti-displacement programs as part of the city’s new housing element. In Chicago, community groups played a key role in shaping a new environmental justice ordinance that directs industrial development away from over-burdened neighborhoods. Perhaps the most dramatic example was in Philadelphia (see Pennsylvania section below), where a coalition of Chinatown residents and allies mounted a sustained campaign against a proposed NBA arena – and won. Nationwide, such efforts underscored a trend: grassroots organizations are increasingly at the table when development plans are made, ensuring local voices are heard through protests, public comment, and negotiations. This rise in community influence is also evident in the spread of participatory budgeting. In 2025, more cities and counties adopted participatory budgeting processes, allowing residents to directly decide how to spend portions of municipal budgets on community improvements. New York City expanded its program to all 51 council districts, Seattle voters approved making their pilot a permanent feature, and smaller cities like Cambridge, MA and Greensboro, NC reported high turnout for their budgeting votes. These programs fund local priorities such as playgrounds, street lighting, and library upgrades, demonstrating the demand for participatory planning and giving communities a tangible say in neighborhood revitalization projects.
CDCs, CDFIs, and Capacity Building: Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) remained pillars of neighborhood revitalization and economic empowerment in 2025. With the economy’s uneven recovery, these organizations stepped up to fill gaps in affordable housing finance, small business lending, and social services. The federal government provided ongoing support: the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund announced $8.8 million in technical assistance grants to 56 CDFIs in FY2025, aimed at expanding their capacity to serve underserved communities 54 55 . Additional awards for direct financial assistance were anticipated later in the year, contingent on budget availability 56 . At the same time, philanthropic and private sectors also increased investments in CDFIs – for example, several large banks in 2025 committed new capital to Black-led and Latino-led CDFIs as part of their community reinvestment efforts. These infusions help CDFIs provide more affordable home mortgages, finance community facilities, and support minority entrepreneurs. On the ground, CDCs across the country continued their mission of neighborhood revitalization. In cities like Detroit, New Orleans, and Cleveland, CDCs broke ground on mixed-use developments that provide affordable housing plus retail or community space, often after years of organizing and assembling funding. Many of these projects incorporate features
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driven by residents’ input (such as including a daycare center or a community garden). The emphasis on equitable development has grown: CDCs and local governments are working together to ensure that as neighborhoods improve, long-time residents are not displaced but rather are beneficiaries of improvements. This includes strategies like community land trusts (to maintain permanent affordable housing), right-to-return preferences in redeveloped areas, and partnerships with anchor institutions.
Federal and Policy Support: At the federal level, community development policy in 2025 maintained steady support and introduced some new initiatives. Congress preserved funding for key programs: the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program received level or slightly increased funding in the 2025 federal budget, continuing to send billions to cities and counties for housing rehab, infrastructure, and social programs in low-income areas. The Choice Neighborhoods program, which provides competitive grants to transform distressed public housing into mixed-income communities, was funded at $140 million for FY2025 57 . HUD also announced a new round of Choice Neighborhoods implementation grants and planning grants, inviting cities to propose comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plans. Additionally, the Treasury Department in December 2025 awarded $10 billion in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to community development entities nationwide – a record amount aimed at spurring private investment in projects like grocery stores in food deserts, health clinics, manufacturing facilities, and mixed-use developments in underserved communities 58 . These NMTC awards will support hundreds of projects with strong community impact in the coming years. Beyond funding, there was notable policy innovation: the Economic Development Administration (EDA) rolled out the first grants under the Recompete Pilot Program, an initiative of the CHIPS and Science Act, targeting persistently high-unemployment communities with flexible funding to create jobs and build capacity. Early Recompete grants went to places like northeast Oklahoma and rural Georgia in 2025, focusing on workforce development and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, a coalition of over 200 environmental and community groups sent a letter to Congress in late 2025 urging a nationwide moratorium on new data centers until regulations address their local impacts 59 60 . While not policy, this activism (discussed more in D5) highlights how community development and environmental justice are intersecting on emerging issues. In sum, 2025’s community development landscape in the U.S. was marked by robust community-level action, steady support from public and private sectors, and a clear imperative to ensure development is equitable and community-driven.
Pennsylvania Developments in 2025
Community development in Pennsylvania during 2025 featured significant state investment in neighborhoods and high-profile grassroots victories. State Investment in Communities: The Shapiro administration made strengthening local communities a priority, backing this commitment with funding. One major boost came through the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP), a long-running initiative that provides tax credits to businesses that donate to community revitalization projects. In 2024, the state doubled NAP funding from $36 million to $72 million, and in 2025 Governor Shapiro secured that higher funding level again in the budget 61 62 . In December 2025, the Department of Community and Economic Development announced $70 million in NAP awards to 405 projects statewide – a sweep of initiatives to improve distressed areas and quality of life 63 64 . These projects, spread across all regions of Pennsylvania, illustrate the breadth of community development needs. For example, in central PA an NAP-supported grant enabled the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank to purchase and distribute more fresh food to low-income families 65 . In the Lehigh Valley, Habitat for Humanity used NAP funds to build eight new affordable homes on a vacant lot in Berks County 66 . In Scranton, the United Neighborhood Centers nonprofit received support to revitalize the Pine Brook neighborhood – improving housing, helping small businesses, and assisting residents with homeownership 67 68 . Similar projects in Erie, Germantown (Philadelphia), Altoona, and more aimed at outcomes like expanding transitional housing for domestic violence survivors, enhancing social services, upgrading facades on Main Streets, and fostering economic development in downtowns 69 70 . The NAP’s tax-credit model leveraged private sector contributions for public good and was lauded by state oficials as a “vital public-private partnership” delivering results on the ground 64 .
Complementing NAP, Governor Shapiro in 2025 rolled out Main Street Matters, a new grant program specifically targeting downtown business districts and corridors. Announced in April 2025 with an initial $20 million budget (funded in the 2024–25 bipartisan budget), Main Street Matters awarded grants to 81 community-driven projects aimed at revitalizing Pennsylvania’s downtowns 71 72 . This program builds on the Keystone Communities framework and focuses on classic Main Street improvements: repairing sidewalks and streetlights, restoring historic façades, helping local businesses, and even developing affordable housing on Main Streets 73 74 . Governor Shapiro announced these investments at the National Main Street Conference in Philadelphia, underscoring that “every community in our Commonwealth – rural, urban, or suburban – has a Main Street” and that vibrant Main Streets are key to retaining residents and attracting businesses 75 76 . Funded projects ranged from streetscape beautification in small towns to support for business incubators in neighborhood commercial strips. By injecting resources here, Pennsylvania signaled a commitment to inclusive economic growth that lifts community centers across diverse regions. Additionally, the state continued to fund the Whole Home Repair Program (launched in 2022) which helps homeowners and small landlords fix up aging homes – a crucial anti-blight and anti-displacement effort in many low-income communities.
Community Organizing and Neighborhood Victories: A standout community development storyline in Pennsylvania 2025 was the successful organizing effort in Philadelphia’s Chinatown against a proposed NBA arena. The “No Arena in Chinatown” coalition, composed of Chinatown residents, business owners, and allies citywide, waged a two-year battle against the 76ers’ plan to build a $1.3 billion arena at Market East (adjacent to Chinatown). Their concerns: the arena would drive up rents, disrupt businesses, and effectively encroach on the 150-year-old Chinatown, threatening its cultural and economic survival 77 78 . Throughout 2024 and into 2025, the community held rallies, marches, packed public hearings, and garnered support from various civic and political leaders. In a stunning turn in January 2025, less than a month after city oficials initially seemed to give the green light, the 76ers abruptly withdrew their Center City arena proposal 79 80 . The team announced it would instead pursue a different site (partnering to build at the existing sports complex in South Philadelphia). This reversal came “after hundreds of protests and rallies organized by arena opponents” and showed the power of unified community advocacy 81 . Chinatown’s triumph not only preserved their neighborhood from likely displacement and disruption, but it also gave other communities hope that organized residents can influence mega-projects. The Philadelphia City Council, hearing the clear public outcry, had begun voicing opposition to the needed approvals, and two Council Members formally voted against preliminary arena legislation in late 2024 82 83 – moves that set the stage for the developer’s retreat. Post-victory, the coalition celebrated it as more than just stopping an arena; it was about claiming the right to shape one’s community and prioritizing people over corporate projects 84 . This episode will likely be studied as a landmark in community organizing in Pennsylvania.
Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, community development work was perhaps less dramatic but steadily impactful. In cities like Pittsburgh, CDCs and neighborhood groups continued efforts to revitalize long-disinvested areas such as the Hill District and Homewood. Pittsburgh’s Neighborhood Community Development Fund provided low-interest loans to help small developers (often minority-owned) rehabilitate vacant properties for new housing and shops, expanding community ownership. Participatory planning took root in places like State College, where the city piloted community workshops to involve residents in redesigning a public housing complex and its surroundings. Across Pennsylvania’s small towns – from former coal patches to railroad hubs – 2025 saw a focus on capacity building: many communities used state technical assistance grants to form local development corporations or train volunteers in Main Street programs, recognizing that having local capacity is key to accessing funds and executing projects.
In summary, Pennsylvania’s community development landscape in 2025 was characterized by a surge of support and a surge of voice. The state government’s infusion of funds through NAP and Main Street initiatives empowered local organizations to undertake tangible improvements – whether building homes, aiding food security, or reviving commercial corridors – in a way rarely seen in recent years. At the same time, empowered by experience and perhaps by national movements, residents and community leaders raised their voices to ensure development serves the people. The balance of public investment and grassroots advocacy is helping Pennsylvania communities chart their own destinies, making revitalization a collaborative effort between government and the governed.
