2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 103

Community
Hubs
YIGBY movement finds
mixed uses for declining
houses of worship
RICK REINHARD
The mismaTch between small, aging
congregations inside of large, deteriorating
church buildings poses a major, longterm
challenge to the integrity of our city
centers and surrounding neighborhoods.
Churches, synagogues, and mosques, after
all, not only provide religious refuge, offer
human services, and stand as architectural
icons, but they also serve as important
third places for the community.
Organized religion's influence has been
waning for decades, and today tens of
thousands of once-thriving houses of worship
are closing, coast to coast, across all
religions and denominations. Cities are
struggling to address these large church
closures, just as they must grapple with
the demise of major department stores.
One big difference between the two
property types is that houses of worship
are more numerous than department
stores. The director of planning for Gary,
Indiana, reports that that city of 68,000
residents has more than 250 empty
churches. The Roman Catholic Bishop of
Buffalo earlier this year announced the
closing of 89 parish buildings in the eightcounty
western New York area, with other
faiths also shuttering their doors.
Also unlike a vacant department store,
the specific architecture of religious buildings
make them difficult to reuse and
redevelop; these spaces are neither easy
nor cheap to divide up into smaller, more
marketable units.
Finally, closing a house of worship is
likely to be felt more deeply than that of
a department store. Many sacred structures
are local landmarks with spires that
rise high over surrounding housetops.
For the congregants, the sanctuaries are
beloved sites of ritual and celebration
based on a common faith. The special
bond typically manifests itself in the larger
community with essential services such as
food pantries, child care centers, and
alcohol and drug counseling. Many a
church, synagogue, or mosque already
serves as a third place for its neighbors-
somewhere they can join together as
a community to sing, to build personal
bonds, even to play basketball.
Redevelopment challenges,
options
One current trend is to turn surplus
faith properties into affordable housing.
State and local governments, fatigued by
NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) neighborhoods,
are passing laws that give incentives,
including density bonuses and byright
approval, to developers building 100
percent affordable housing on land owned
by houses of worship.
But often a property does not lend
itself to housing, affordable or otherwise.
What a community may need is for a site
to retain its spiritual identity, while at the
same time operating as a community hub.
Partners for Sacred Places-a Philadelphiabased
not-for-profit-undertook a study in
cooperation with the University of Pennsylvania
School of Social Policy and
Practice that showed the average urban
house of worship creates $140,000 in
contributions to the community in the
form of volunteer time, free meeting
space, and the like, and generates more
than $1.7 million in economic impact over
its lifetime.
Mary W. Rowe, president and CEO
of the Canadian Urban Institute, puts it
precisely: " Spaces and places originally
created and financed by communities of
all faiths have over time played a significant
role in fostering community cohesion
and building social capital. From voting
to vaccinations, food drives to newcomer
supports, these early third places became
essential to the secular life of communities
of all sizes. As faith traditions evolve,
the spaces they created need new purposes
and new funding models to sustain
their crucial role in building community
resilience at every scale. "
Seven strategies
Some houses of worship are facing the
challenge. Here are seven strategies that
St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Buffalo, New York. The Roman Catholic
Bishop of Buffalo has announced the closing of up to 89 parish buildings.
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URBAN LAND
103
INDUSTRY VOICES
SHUTTERS TOCK
2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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