After neighborhood decline has set in, whether complete or still in process, much of the existing literature defines and refines how the revitalization will take place. Though external factors are to blame for decline, revitalization will not take place without the alignment of a supporting internal environment.
There is a significant role for strong local institutions in mitigating revitalization. The examples of the Chicago neighborhoods of North Lawndale and Englewood show that while both neighborhoods suffered because of increasing competition for residents from suburban neighborhoods with greater amenities, West Lawndale has gained noticeably because as a direct result of various local institutions and influential organizations that remained committed to redeveloping the area (Zielenbach, 2000).
Increasingly, there is consensus around the need for public actors who can improve demand in revitalizing neighborhoods. A series of successful efforts to create Healthy Neighborhoods have relied on resident-led and demand-focused. This approach views the revitalizing challenge as a loss of resident and investor confidence, and demands the involvement of homeowner groups and the creation of a positive image of the community in order to compete for residents (Boehlke, 2010).
Suggesting another set of players that contribute to neighborhood improvements, the series of successful efforts to create Healthy Neighborhoods have relied on resident-led leadership that focuses on the neighborhood’s residential demand, noticeably among homeowners. Under such terms, it would be hard to imagine a successful revitalization effort in Woodlawn that was not fully supported by the residents (Boehlke, 2010). In Woodlawn, there is a practical source of tension between the notion of focusing on residential demand and enhancing supply for low-income residents. Opponents of gentrification make normative claims in favor of using public funds to improve the outcomes of low-income residents as opposed to appealing to higher-income residents, who may eventually price current residents out.