All the injustices we can name come down to land and who is control of it.

~ Ivan Paz, Community Land Use Academy Project Manager, Every Neighborhood Partnership

What is Land Use?

Many of us wake up and drive to work or school without knowing about the policies, city council meetings, and government decisions associated with the road we’re driving on and the buildings we’re looking at.

“Land use” is a term used to describe the human use of land in a city. Land use addresses questions like:

• What should be done with this abandoned building?
• Does this intersection need a stop light?
• Who do we contact to advocate for more green space for the kids in our neighborhood?

“Almost everything that deals with land use is relevant to our every day lives,” says Ivan Paz, ENP’s Community Land Use Academy Project Manager.

In fact, housing, health, and economic disparities in a city are often directly tied to land use decisions.

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Addressing Injustice through Land Use

Tony Quezada is a youth soccer coach in Fresno. Currently, there are not enough soccer fields in his area for all the kids’ teams to practice. When it gets dark earlier in the day, his team is either forced to cancel practice or fight for a spot at a school where there are lights. However, even if the team is able to secure a well-lit practice spot, they’re usually playing in a “field” of brown grass or dirt due to its overuse.

Melissa Perry is the Associate Director of Generation Changers. She represents community members in Southwest Fresno, an area where “there is only one grocery store for about 40,000 people. That alone lets you know that the land use in Southwest Fresno is not utilized well at all,” says Melissa.

“All the injustices we can name come down to land and who is control of it,” says Ivan. “For example, what was segregation about? Who is allowed in a certain area of land and who is not.”

How can someone without great power or wealth influence our city’s land use decisions? Everyday citizens must be educated about the policies surrounding the use of land in our city so they can rally together and advocate for changes.

This is why Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP) and its local partners have launched a community driven land use educational initiative, Fresno Community Land Use Academy (CLUA).

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Community Land Use Academy

Fresno CLUA is helping more community members get involved in Fresno’s land use and urban planning processes so that land development decisions benefit ALL Fresnans.

CLUA is an 8-week bootcamp designed for local residents and community builders that are interested in learning and engaging in Fresno’s land use policies and development decisions in order to improve their neighborhoods.

Thanks to a grant from the Kresge Foundation and with technical support from the Urban Institute, ENP is spending the next year launching this new city-wide initiative.

ENP has successfully graduated its first cohort through CLUA Bootcamp #1 and is preparing to launch Bootcamp #2. Here are the details!

• 8 weekly sessions
• Mondays, 6:00 PM to 8:15 PM
• Dinner provided
• Learn alongside a cohort of 10 to 15 people

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Testimonials from CLUA Bootcamp #1

“After this class, I don’t drive around Fresno the same. I notice the speed limits, how buildings are facing, where affordable housing is located. I’m writing down the numbers of abandoned buildings to find out who owns them and what could be done to beautify Fresno.”

~ Melissa Perry, Associate Director with Generation Changers.

“We cannot limit ourselves… we’re all taxpayers, we have the same right to clean streets, nice neighborhoods, we cannot just keep our voices down. We have to unite and say, ‘We want this in our area too.’”

~ Lilia Becerril, Founder of Familias en Acción.

“If you are someone who wants to make a change, I definitely recommend taking this class,”

~ Tony Quezada, Owner of Lets Roll Fresno & Soccer Coach.

Do you have questions about CLUA or other Land Use-related questions? Contact Ivan Paz at ivan@everyneighborhood.org.

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