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January 24, 2023
ONE Neighborhood Builders To Hold Fresh Fridays Event on Zoning & Affordable Housing Development
PROVIDENCE, RI – ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB), one of the state’s leading community development corporations, is hosting a virtual event and panel discussion on zoning and affordable housing development on Friday, January 26, at 8:45 AM. The event is a part of ONE|NB’s Fresh Fridays, a monthly gathering for practitioners, community members, and policymakers interested in community development.
This month’s Fresh Friday will feature experts in zoning and affordable housing development in a discussion on how zoning impacts the ability for developers and municipalities to meet their affordable housing development goals.
Panelists include:
- Brenda Clement, Executive Director, HousingWorks RI at RWU
- Bryce Kelley, Senior Research Analyst, HousingWorks RI at RWU
- Joelle Rocha, Partner, Real Estate Development & Litigation, Duffy & Sweeney LTD
- Jennifer Hawkins, President & CEO, ONE Neighborhood Builders
“Zoning and land use are inextricably tied to the production and preservation of housing in communities across Rhode Island and the country more broadly,” said Jennifer Hawkins, President and CEO of ONE|NB. “This month’s Fresh Friday will allow us to dive deeper into this topic while also exploring new resources available in the state.”
The virtual event will also highlight HousingWorks RI’s new RI Zoning Atlas, an interactive mapping tool that provides an unprecedented look at zoning conditions impacting housing and development across the state. HousingWorks RI spent nearly two years analyzing the zoning of all 39 of Rhode Island’s cities and towns to create an interactive and digestible atlas.
“HousingWorks RI understands that zoning is not the only factor to unlocking more production of housing—substantial reliable and sustainable funding is also essential, but we have understood for many years that zoning is a key piece to this puzzle. With so much of Rhode Island’s land zoned primarily for single family homes, we may be underutilizing important commercial and transit corridors as well as town and village centers where additional homes could benefit those who often already live locally. We hope that the RI zoning atlas, as part of the National Zoning Atlas project, will become a valuable tool to guide investments locally as we work together to increase our housing supply,” said Brenda Clement, Executive Director of HousingWorks RI at RWU.
The event is open to the public and will have live captioning available in several languages, including English and Spanish.
More information on Fresh Friday and recordings of past Fresh Fridays can be found here
ABOUT ONE NEIGHBORHOOD BUILDERS:
ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) is a nonprofit community development leader that improves lives across Rhode Island by building homes and connecting communities. They use their 35 years of practical experience in the housing and community development fields to test new ideas and challenge entrenched systems. ONE|NB is the convening entity of Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone (CPO-HEZ), a place-based collective impact initiative of more than 60 stakeholders across the nine neighborhoods of Central Providence. CPO-HEZ advances the shared vision for greater health and economic equity in the 02908 and 02909 zip codes.
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Media Contact (for ONE|NB)
Mike Raia, Half Street Group
mike@nullhalfstreetgroup.com | 401.340.9425
