Near West Side Initiative Inc.

The Near Westside Initiative (NWSI) has used the power of art, green technology, and student, faculty and resident engagement to increase home ownership, provide job training and attract 337 jobs and $70 million in investment to a small (3,300 residents) impoverished neighborhood at the edge of downtown Syracuse, New York over the past seven years. The NWSI success has been characterized by dramatic physical improvements to a once scarred urban landscape and the participation and joint commitment of unlikely coalitions of community leaders, organizations and residents to the neighborhood’s revitalization.