Page 15 - BusinessWest August 22, 2022

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Photos by Mark Murray
The new mural brings a moment in Springfield’s history back to vibrant, colorful life.
Through a movement called tactical urbanism, Plotkin and Simpson are trying to reignite a sense of community in the downtown business dis- trict. Tactical urbanism, also known as DIY urbanism, is all about action — an approach to neighborhood building using short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions to catalyze long-term change.
A two-year study released by researchers from the School of Social
“A big part of history is being plastered on this
wall. Essentially, what’s happening is the legacy of Springfield is being visually painted, whether people know it or not. You can pick out iconic things that people know about around the world. Springfield is the birthplace of greatness.”
Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania revealed a relation- ship between the presence of cultural resources in a neighborhood and key aspects of social well-being, particularly in less advantaged neighborhoods.
Specifically, low- and middle-income residents with more access to cul- tural resources experience better education, security, and health outcomes compared to residents of neighborhoods with similar economic profiles, but with fewer cultural resources.
When controlling for factors including economic status, race, and eth- nicity, the higher presence of cultural resources in lower-income neigh- borhoods is linked with several health, safety, and education benefits. These include a 14% decrease in indicted investigations of child abuse and neglect, an 18% decrease in felony crime rate, and also an 18% increase in the number of students scoring at the highest level on standardized math
BusinessWest FEATURE AUGUST 22, 2022 15