2021 Comprehensive Plan and Supporting Documents Regarding Equity

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The Framework Element 

The Framework Element provides the context for the rest of the Plan by:

• Describing the forces driving change in the city
• Describing the District’s growth forecasts and projections 
• Tying the Comprehensive Plan to “Vision for Growing an Inclusive City” with 40 principles to be followed as the District moves from “Vision to Reality” 
• Describes the Comprehensive Plan, Generalized Policy Map, and the Future Land Use Map, describes how the Comprehensive Plan guides development decisions, and describes the role of capital investments in addressing current and future challenges regarding infrastructure and facilities.

Statements on racial equity:

The District seeks to create and support an equitable and inclusive city. …. equity is both an outcome and a process. Equity exists where all people share equal rights, access, choice, opportunities, and outcomes, regardless of characteristics such as race, class, or gender. Equity is achieved by targeted actions and investments to meet residents where they are, to create equitable opportunities. Equity is not the same as equality. 213.6 

Equitable development is a participatory approach for meeting the needs of underserved communities through policies, programs and/or practices that reduce and ultimately eliminate disparities while fostering places that are healthy and vibrant. Equitable development holistically considers land- use, transportation, housing, environmental, and cultural conditions, and creates access to education, services, health care, technology, workforce development, and employment opportunities. As the District grows and changes, it must do so in a way that encourages choice, not displacement, and builds the capacity of vulnerable, marginalized, and low-income communities to fully and substantively participate in decision-making processes and share in the benefits of the growth, while not unduly bearing its negative impacts. 213.7  

Managing Growth and Change: Guiding Principles 219: 

The District seeks to create and support an equitable and inclusive city. Growth must be managed equitably to support all District residents, including vulnerable communities and District protected classes. We must recognize that managing growth and change includes addressing the historic, structural, and systemic racial inequities and disenfranchisement of many District residents. And we must recognize the importance of longtime businesses, as well as educational and cultural institutions. An equitable and inclusive city includes access to housing that is healthy, safe, and affordable for a range of household types, sizes, and incomes in all neighborhoods. A citywide problem requires citywide solutions – ones that overcome the legacy of segregation, avoid concentrating poverty, and afford the opportunity to stay in one’s home and not be displaced. 219.1 2 

As an outcome, the District achieves racial equity when race no longer determines one’s socioeconomic outcomes; when everyone has what they need to thrive, no matter where they live or their socioeconomic status; and when racial divides no longer exist between people of color and their white counterparts. As a process, we apply a racial equity lens when those most impacted by structural racism are meaningfully involved in the creation and implementation of the institutional policies and practices that impact their lives, particularly people of color. Applying this lens also reflects the targeted support to communities of color through policies and programs that are aimed at centering – focusing on their needs and barriers to participate and make informed decisions – and eliminating racial divides, all while taking into account historical trauma and racism.

213.9  The District’s policies and investments should reflect a commitment to eliminating racial inequities. Addressing issues of equity in transportation, housing, employment, income, asset building, geographical change, and socioeconomic outcomes through a racial equity lens will allow the District to address systemic and underlying drivers of racial inequities. 213.10