Incremental Development:
Your Community’s Tool for Local Prosperity
A Live Presentation by Gracen Johnson of the Incremental Development Alliance
July 7th, 12 p.m. CDT
Across the continent, small-scale developers are investing in local housing and businesses in order to build up the economic prosperity of their towns. They are rehabbing broken-down homes, revitalizing neglected downtown and reshaping the future of their communities.
In this webcast, the Incremental Development Alliance will:
explain why incremental development is such a powerful tool for building strong towns—especially during the current pandemic,
discuss the philosophy behind incremental development,
cover the importance of time and scale in incremental development efforts,
help you figure out where to start—either as a developer or as a supporter of local small-scale developers
Throughout the webcast, you’ll be introduced to developers doing great work all over the continent, from Texas to Ontario.
A live Q+A session will follow the presentation.
About the Presenters
Gracen Johnson is the Director of Content & Contribution at the Incremental Development Alliance. Since completing her MPhil in Planning, Growth, and Regeneration at the University of Cambridge in 2013, Gracen has spent years engaging with bottom-up city building herself. She met the IncDev team via her online storytelling as a proactive neighbor in a small city on Canada’s east coast. Her writing, speaking, videos, and urban interventions inspire regular citizens to invest in their neighborhoods in the creative, makeshift ways that make a place feel loved and lived in. Full bio.
Gracen will be joined by other Incremental Development Alliance faculty and alumni:
Alum Brian Burnett in Raleigh, NC is an entrepreneur and a champion for Raleigh. He built Glenwood South Tailor & Alterations, a bespoke tailoring house, from the ground up and is now working on commercial redevelopment and a range of residential in the neighborhood where he grew up.
Alum Sarah Cipkar in Windsor, ON. Sarah sparked an incremental development movement in Windsor through her work as a community development coordinator. She collaborated with other community members to enhance the Downtown Windsor Farmers Market as the co-chair, was elected as a school board trustee, and launched a local small developer meetup group. Sarah is now building a backyard cottage and hoping to do more.
Alum Kyle Gulau in Kalamazoo, MI fell in love with the city and wanted to stay after college. After experiencing startup life, he decided to make a business of buildings as well. Kyle has gradually been fixing up three abandoned buildings with love and care on the Northside. He lives in his first project, a duplex.
Alum/Faculty Joel Dixon in Atlanta, GA worked for years as a tech solutions consultant before founding several companies with a focus on economic empowerment and small business finance. He's also a community developer cultivating mixed-income infill with his company, Urban Oasis, "powered by intentionality, hustle, and grit.”
Faculty Bernice Radle in Buffalo, NY started her development journey in property management. She created and implemented a massive energy retrofit program before launching her own development company (Buffalove) and construction outfit (Little Wheel Hustle). She is passionate about putting old buildings back into service and creating beauty in the spaces between them in the West Side.
Senior Faculty Monte Anderson in Duncanville, TX inspired and co-founded the Incremental Development Alliance. He has been putting incremental development into practice for over 30 years with his real estate business, OptionsRE. Monte has taught and mentored thousands of small developers and entrepreneurs. His experience, approach, and respect for simplicity form the foundation of IncDev's training.
P.S. Are you a local government official, city staff, a member of your city’s planning or transportation committees, or a member of a local advocacy organization? We encourage you to invite members of your team to this webinar, then work together to take collective action toward building a safer, stronger, more financially resilient community.
AICP members can earn 1 Certification Maintenance (CM) credit for this course. AICP members must complete the full course to claim their credit. You can claim your credits at the APA website, here.
