Nuts and Bolts: Neighborhood asset mapping

Often, perhaps too often, neighborhood activists focus on what we want. When formulated into an inspiring vision and augmented with a strategic map for getting there, that's both necessary and useful.

What's just as necessary, though, is consideration of what we have. To the extent that community building and revitalization are the end result of mobilized capacities and assets, and they always are, what we have provides the foundational building blocks for future developmental efforts.

Adapted from Kretzman and McKnight's Building Communities from the the Inside Out, the following is provided by friend and long-time revitalization leader and teacher John Lehner. I'd love to bring John back to town at some point for some direct insight but, until then, his resource and asset typology is a good starting point for discussion around collaborative revitalization strategy.

Primary Resources
Resources that exist or originate in the neighborhood and are significantly controlled by individuals or entities inside the neighborhood.

Examples:
Skills, talents, and experience of residents
Individual Businesses
Personal Income
Relationships, Social Capital
Citizens' associations
Religious organizations
Financial Institutions
Real Estate

Secondary Resources
Resources that exist or originate inside the neighborhood but are significantly controlled by individuals or entities outside the neighborhood.

Examples:
Public schools
Social service organizations
Police and Fire departments
Parks
Waste management
Employers
Real Estate

Potential Resources
Resources that originate outside the neighborhood, impact the neighborhood, but are significantly controlled by individuals or entities outside the neighborhood.

Examples:
Public capital improvement expenditures
Public information
Media
Welfare expenditures

What does your neighborhood's asset map look like?