But what does that mean, exactly?
One answer comes from a soon-to-be-built park in Washington, D.C. Constructed on an abandoned bridge across the Anacostia River, the 11th Street Bridge Park will link upscale Capitol Hill with Anacostia – a historically African-American, predominantly low-income neighborhood east of the river. When it is completed in 2023, the park will offer playgrounds, gardens, performance spaces, an environmental education center, public art and a boat launch.
And Building Bridges across the River , the nonprofit behind the bridge plan, is channeling the resources raised for the park to promote truly equitable development, especially in long-neglected Anacostia and its surrounding neighborhoods. The strategies used by Building Bridges and its partners – engaging the community, building trust, backstopping existing residents and businesses – offer a model for the Biden administration and others working to rebuild from the wreckage of the last year.