Reflection: People or Place?

I read the article, "People or Place? Revisiting the Who Versus the Where of Urban Development."
Community development is based on either people-based or place-based strategies to combat poverty and community decline.

Simply put, people-based means that resources would go directly to the people, who needed it; and, place-based means that resources would support specified areas (or locations), such as a specific city, town, or region. One of the arguments related to place-based support is that residents would be forced to remain in low-income, impoverished neighborhoods in stead of receiving the needed aid and utilizing it in a neighborhood of their choice.

From this article and additional articles on the support, it seems that a balance of both people- and placed-based strategies is the most beneficial.  To truly build a better community, resources addressing poverty, must also support employment and training, education, health care, and other social services.   

Resource: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Land Lines. People or Place? Revisiting the Who Versus the Where of Urban Development. July 2008.