Unity Park

When local residents, elected officials, municipal staff, nonprofits, young people, institutions, and businesspeople come together to develop a common agenda and share the reins of leadership, great things can happen. Richmond, California’s Unity Park project is a story about reaffirming a culture of civic engagement, shared decision-making, and hands-on, collaborative visioning and building a beautiful “by us, for us” community asset. Doing this work collectively raises expectations about what the community deserves, and at the same time, offers an opportunity for community members to address the challenges they see within their own neighborhoods and shift assumptions about what leadership looks like and how our civic infrastructure functions.