Love Your Block

Love Your Block brings city leaders and residents together to strengthen neighborhoods one block at a time by supporting resident-led projects that improve their cities. Local governments receive funds to engage residents in efforts that clear vacant lots, reclaim public space, and better their communities, as well as expert support from the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation and a dedicated Love Your Block Fellow to support their work—and build trust in local government.

Since its founding in 2009, Love Your Block has helped 50 local governments engage more than 88,000 residents across 33 states to remove more than 7 million pounds of trash, clean over 550,000 square feet of graffiti, create nearly 800 art displays, and transform the areas residents rely on most. These results have also been shown to build ties between city halls and their citizens: a 2021 study by the Urban Institute found that participating Love Your Block municipalities improved social cohesion among residents, increased civic participation, and strengthened relationships between local government and the people it serves.

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.