This study is designed to show how investing in low-income neighborhoods that are in paths of growth can benefit community residents, investors, and the diverse funders involved. It is an exploration of Access Ventures’ work thus far in Shelby Park, a small city neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky.

We intentionally targeted underserved people and places – where conventional markets are frequently absent, misguided or failing.

This case study explores the history of Shelby Park, the problems a community like Shelby Park faces, and one solution in which many lessons have been learned (and are still being learned). What is clear is the reality that creative solutions and funders willing to take a risk on innovation are critical to the long-term vibrancy we desire for every neighborhood.

We began five years ago with a program to restore vacant and abandoned properties by leveraging non-traditional and patient debt; that vision has matured into a robust strategy including commercial development, creative enterprises, coworking, and micro-lending to small businesses in need of critical growth capital.

A neighborhood in a path of growth is defined as one on the outskirts of a growing community, whose property values are currently low but expected to rise rapidly over the next decade, and which is expected to receive significant private investment over the next three to five years. The timing of this growth is critical in order to avoid gentrification. If the pace is too rapid, longer-term residents are not able to participate in any achieved change or growth.