Creating Community through Complete Neighborhoods
By gloria joy muhammad
Note: At the bottom of this post, you’ll see an opportunity to submit your ideas in response to the questions gloria joy is inviting us to consider.
This excerpt is from “spearmint,” a poem I wrote during the winter of 2021 when we had snow for over a week in Tacoma. I was thinking of how so much money was spent to create an effervescent light show at the Space Needle on New Year’s while so many of us were struggling to have our basic needs met.
Driving through the Proctor District in Tacoma, I marvel at the fact that it has two grocery stores side by side: a Safeway and a Metropolitan Market. There are schools, restaurants, hair salons, two ice-cream shops, coffee shops, a movie theatre, a weekly farmer’s market, and more.
Safeway and Metropolitan Market on 24th and Proctor. Photo by the author.
Being from the Hilltop in Tacoma, it’s no secret that the main grocery store is the small Safeway located on South M Street, one with limited buying options in terms of produce, personal products, and organic items.
Safeway in Hilltop area on South 11th and South M St. Adjacent is a Sea Mar Medical Clinic. Photo by the author.
For Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), the world is already painting a picture of what is possible by our environments alone.
Why do environments matter? Why do neighborhoods matter? Our neighborhoods have a huge impact on our health, education, earning potential, and character development.
Imagine…
Going on a walk and taking in the cool breeze from the trees providing awesome air quality for your lungs.
You walk or bike to pick up the healthy foods you need, go to work, take your children to school, and more…
Does that sound like a dream?
Dionne Bonner mural, South Tacoma Public Library. Photo: Julia Wolf.
Participating in the Tacoma Climate Leadership Cohort in 2022–2023 got me thinking about the idea of a “complete neighborhood” and what it means for climate justice in Tacoma.
According to portlandonline.com, “A ‘complete neighborhood’ is an area where residents have safe and convenient access to goods and services they need on a daily or regular basis.”
Do you have safe and convenient access to goods and services that you need on a regular basis?
Who gets to define those “needs” or that “convenience”? Do the folks who have lived in those neighborhoods get to decide?
In what ways is our city providing convenient access? In what ways isn’t it?
One example of access and safety that our city needs to improve on is sidewalks that are ADA accessible. This is a current inequity that needs to be addressed immediately.
One way cities can think about convenient access is by taking a careful look at how residents spend their time as they move through a city. How long does it take for us to get to our workplace, school, grocery, parks, recreation, spiritual establishments and more? How many people are commuting every day from Tacoma to Seattle to earn a wage for their living expenses? Is that convenient?
An example of convenient access is the 15-Minute City Project. According to Carlos Moreno, a professor at the Sorbonne University, a 15-minute city is one where “a person can access key things in their life — work, food, schools and recreation — within a short walk, bike, or transit ride of their home.” What are the benefits of a 15-minute city? Moreno says the benefits include: “infrastructure that prioritizes walking, biking and public transit, and this means less noise from cars and more safety for pedestrians and bikers. Less air pollution from cars and daily routines with more walking and biking promote health. More parks and urban trees can pull carbon dioxide from the air, provide shade, and cool down neighborhoods — all increasingly important as the planet warms. And redesigning cities where homes are mixed in with businesses can drive more foot traffic to those businesses” (NPR).
Do you think having a complete neighborhood is a worthy pursuit for ourselves, neighbors, and our city as a whole? Why or why not?
If so, how can we go about that? What key ingredients are necessary to pursue such an endeavor? If creating a complete neighborhood was a recipe for us to collectively steward and create, what would the key ingredients be to implement that?
Valuing our Collective Gifts and Creativity
By valuing ourselves and our various gifts, we can then see the power of our city because the power is in us, the people.
What if we valued our collective gifts and creativity? What if we valued it so much, that we actually believed in the power of our collective creativity? What if we made it a communal practice to bring our ideas to life? What if we honored that?
We could create the things we want to see, in key areas including housing, food, healthcare, education, and by co-creating an economy where all have their needs met regardless of status, title, or positionality.
Ultimately, the concept of complete neighborhoods begs us to answer the question: What does community liberation look like in practice? What does collective care look like in practice?
SENCO green community space. Photo: Julia Wolf.
Tacoma Tree Foundation, an example of Collective Care
Lack of tree canopy poses serious health threats and ultimately can cause mortality. Tacoma has the lowest measured tree coverage in Western Washington, at 20% of land area. On top of that, BIPOC folks are experiencing the worst of our air quality in Tacoma. According to Tacoma Community Forestry, “trees and supporting infrastructure (like planting strips) were not often provided in redlined neighborhoods.” The East Side in Tacoma—which is a predominantly Latinx community—is an example of one of the lowest areas of tree canopy in Tacoma.
In 2018, a map of Tacoma’s hottest areas was published. Mike Carey, Urban Forestry Program Manager for the City of Tacoma, recounts how, during the 2021 “heat dome” event, "some areas that may be in North Tacoma saw temperatures that were up to 14 degrees cooler than areas kind of where we’re standing today – Central, South Tacoma and the East Side” (KNKX).
In 2021, at least 24 people died during the heatwave in Pierce County.
Tacoma Tree Foundation focuses on growing the urban forest right here in our city. They focus on tree planting in neighborhoods where it’s most needed, including Hilltop, Eastside, South Tacoma, South End, and Parkland. They also host tree steward trainings for folks to learn planting techniques, care practices, and local regulations for tree planting.
Tacoma Tree Foundation is one example of creating a more just and complete city.
Make Tacoma Complete
A complete city is possible if we have conversations that help us identify our needs and share our visions. What are yours?
What does a complete neighborhood (and ultimately a complete city) look like for you?
What does community liberation in practice look like to you?
What does collective care in practice look like to you?
What would it mean to have your basic needs met?
How can we do this collaboratively?
How can we co-create this?
If you feel inclined to share (and you can be anonymous), I would love to hear your ideas here.
gloria joy kazuko muhammad is a writer and literary arts teaching artist based in tacoma, wa (puyallup tribe territory). as a writer, she is inspired by spirituality, everyday life, nature, music, and cinematography. she is a graduate of Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab and facilitates writing workshops rooted in healing and personal development.
