Neighborhood Knowledge for Change

R esidents of many communities have these questions about the places where they live. In underresourced communities, the answers to these questions — so critical for the health, safety, and vitality of a neighborhood — are too often impossible to find. The Pacific Institute began its Environmental Indicators Project (EIP) to answer these questions and give neighborhood residents access to the information they need to revitalize their communities. In 2000, we began by partnering with a neighborhood organization, the 7th St./MyClymonds Initiative, to initiate the EIP in the West Oakland neighborhood of Oakland, California. We facilitated a community-driven process where residents selected the neighborhood indicators they wanted to track; collected, analyzed, and reported on the selected indicators; and supported the continuing use of this data to advocate for positive change in West Oakland. This report is owed to the dedication of our Neighborhood Task Force members, and the product of two years of work in West Oakland.