Curtis Lowe I’ve lived in this neighborhood for over thirty years. I’ve seen potholes swallow car tires, watched our community center lose its roof, and waited for buses that never showed up on time. Through it all, I’ve heard the same refrain from city officials: “We’re doing the best we can with what we have.” But here’s … Read moreThe Case for Community Control Over Local Budgets
Every year, local councils sit in air-conditioned rooms and decide how to spend money that isn’t theirs. That money comes from our rates, our service charges, the taxes we pay buying bread or filling a pothole with gravel out of our own pockets. And yet, the people who live with the consequences of those budget … Read moreWhy Local Budgets Should Belong to the People Who Pay Them
I’ve lived on the same block in Harare for over twenty years. In that time, I’ve watched the potholes on our main road grow from small cracks into craters that swallow tyres whole. I’ve seen the streetlights go dark one by one, and the piles of uncollected refuse become a permanent fixture on the corner. … Read moreTaking the Purse Strings: Why Our Neighbourhoods Should Hold the Budget
The room was hot—not from the weather, but from the sheer heat of frustration. A Tuesday evening in the church basement, folding chairs scraping the linoleum as neighbors shifted, arms crossed. The city council had just signed off on another round of funding for a tech park on the north side, yet our block still … Read moreTaking Back the Ledger: Why We Need a Say in How Our Money Gets Spent
I’ve sat through more community meetings than I care to count where the same three voices take over, nothing gets settled, and everybody walks out more annoyed than when they arrived. A neighbourhood assembly doesn’t have to be that way. Structure it properly, and it turns into a space where actual decisions happen, neighbours get … Read moreHow to Run a Neighborhood Assembly That Actually Works
The Power Is Already in Your Building When I first started talking to neighbors about our broken elevator and the mold spreading through the bathroom ceilings, I thought someone else would fix it. The landlord, maybe. The city. Someone. But nothing changed until we stopped waiting. We knocked on doors, gathered phone numbers, and sat … Read moreWhy Tenant Organizing Is the Most Effective Housing Strategy
When the bulldozers show up in a neighborhood, they don’t just knock down walls. They rip at the threads holding people together. I’ve seen it play out on my own block—families who’d been in the same house for generations suddenly find an eviction notice taped to the front door because somebody decided their land was … Read moreThe Problem With Development That Displaces Residents
The Quiet Revolution on Our Street Corners Walk down certain blocks around here and you might catch something unexpected: a refrigerator parked outside a community center, a church, or a corner shop. It’s painted with bright murals, and there’s usually a simple sign that says Take what you need, leave what you can. These aren’t … Read moreHow Community Fridges Address Food Waste and Hunger
Twenty years on these streets. I raised my kids here, learned every cracked sidewalk, watched the corner shops turn over. But the day a plain white fridge appeared outside the old community center—hand-painted sign, nothing fancy—something in the block’s rhythm changed. Not charity air-dropped from somewhere else. An answer we built ourselves, right where two … Read moreHow Community Fridges Take On Waste and Hunger at the Same Time
When a flood tears through a valley or a fire climbs a hillside, the first ones to show up aren’t helicopters or national agencies. It’s the neighbours. The grandmother who knows exactly which ditch will flood first. The fisherman who reads the river’s mood by the colour of the water. In those early hours, it’s … Read moreWhy Local Knowledge Should Lead Disaster Response