Mapping the connection between stronger and safer neighborhoods

Through a set of signature initiatives, the City is engaging local leaders, community-based organizations (CBOs) and residents themselves in efforts to build durable and lasting peace. One of the earliest of these initiatives to take shape—and perhaps the most complex and ambitious to date—is the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety, more commonly known as MAP.

This case study explores MAP’s beginnings, evolution and initial impact. Launched in July 2014, MAP channels resources into developments that comprise less than five percent of the City’s public housing stock but at the time accounted for almost 20 percent of violent crime. Most important, MAP has created a method of joint problem-solving between residents and government that cuts a clear path directly to City Hall for people working to make their communities better places to live.