The Future of Urban and Metropolitan America

The White House Office of Urban Affairs and the White House Domestic Policy Council today began “A National Conversation on the Future of Urban and Metropolitan America.” And, they started this morning in Philadelphia with a conversation about the intersection of fresh food, health, economic development, workforce development, and neighborhood revitalization.

The event included a tour of Jeff Brown’s Parkside Shop Rite Supermarket followed by a townhall to engage leaders about the success of the Fresh Food Financing Initiative and other efforts throughout the state to improve access to fresh foods.

Jeff Brown’s ShopRite sits in a largely African American neighborhood with a declining population where close to 75% of households earn less than $50,000 a year. The successful grocery store (see our map here) gives this neighborhood easy and affordable access to fresh foods and suburban-like grocery store amenities.

The White House hopes to highlight local innovations like this around the nation to amplify the work of the private and non-profit partners who contributed to the success of this program, and identify ways the federal government can create incentives for this type of collaboration and policy integration.

Learn more about Parkside – or any neighborhood around the nation – by visiting PolicyMap.