Decades of disinvestment in public housing, coupled with widespread demolition of sites, have left many communities with underutilized open spaces - ranging from shared courtyards within developments to vacant parcels dotting neighborhoods. These places hold significant potential to serve as vital community infrastructure that supports health, belonging, climate resilience, and economic opportunity. Yet, unlocking that potential requires navigating constraints around funding, policy, and capacity that no single actor can resolve alone. By forming creative, cross-sector partnerships, these open spaces can be reimagined and sustained as central to residents' sense of home and neighborhood vitality. 

The "Common Yards: Green Space & Public Housing Reimagined" event marks a milestone to explore the transformation of underused open space at public housing sites into thriving community infrastructure. These cross-sector opportunities are central to Trust for Public Land's nationwide mission to ensure that every person, in every community, can enjoy the benefits of a high-quality park within a 10-minute walk of home. This event builds on work from across the country, including impactful work in New York by Design Trust for Public Space in partnership with the Public Housing Community Fund and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). This forum will act as a catalyst, activating a network of passionate partners committed to delivering meaningful improvements to open space conditions for public housing residents and their surrounding communities. 

Learn more and register here.