Love Your Block
What is Love Your Block?
Love Your Block brings city leaders and residents together to strengthen neighborhoods one block at a time by funding resident-led, neighborhood improvement projects in their communities. From transforming vacant lots into community gardens to repairing playgrounds and removing trash, Love Your Block improves public spaces while strengthening communities.
An Urban Institute study found that participating cities strengthened social cohesion, increased civic participation, and built stronger relationships with residents, contributing to greater trust in local government. Established and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Love Your Block builds on the successful legacy of Cities of Service, which has helped hundreds of municipalities engage residents as a leading voice in public problem-solving since its launch by New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2009.
Love Your Block is one of several programs that the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Government and Policy supports to equip local governments with the tools to unlock the insights, talent, and energy of their residents.
Since its founding in 2009, Love Your Block has reached more than 88,000 residents—cleaning more than 550,000 square feet of graffiti, removing more than 7 million pounds of trash in cities nationwide, and creating nearly 800 art displays. A total of 50 U.S. cities across 33 states have received support through the program.