Where Strength Starts: At the Neighborhood Level
When people hear the word “resilience,” they often think about individuals—their ability to bounce back, adapt, or overcome. But for me, resilience isn’t just a personal trait. It’s a community trait. A neighborhood’s ability to weather economic downturns or climate disruptions depends on how it’s built, who’s invested in it, and whether or not it’s designed to serve everyone who lives there.
Coming from the NFL, I’ve always known that strength starts at the foundation. The same is true for neighborhoods. If you want long-term success, you have to invest in systems and infrastructure that support people through good times and bad. And in today’s world—where climate change, inflation, housing instability, and job uncertainty are pressing down all at once—building resilient neighborhoods is more than a goal. It’s a necessity.
At Kingsley + Co., this is a challenge we embrace every day. Real estate is our business, but building for people is our mission. And in order to do that well, we have to think not just about what a neighborhood needs today, but what it will need ten, twenty, even fifty years from now.
Facing Two Crises at Once
We’re living in a time where two massive forces—climate and the economy—are reshaping the way our cities function. On the environmental side, we’re dealing with flooding, extreme heat, and aging infrastructure that can’t keep up. On the economic side, we see widening wealth gaps, skyrocketing rents, and neighborhoods being priced out of their own future.
These pressures aren’t new—but they are becoming more intense. And too often, the communities hit hardest are the ones that already face the most barriers: low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, and places that have historically been underinvested in.
That’s why designing resilient neighborhoods starts with a mindset of equity. We can’t keep applying band-aid fixes. We have to build smarter from the ground up, using solutions that are sustainable, inclusive, and community-driven.
What Resilience Really Looks Like
A resilient neighborhood isn’t just one with fancy green buildings or high-tech water systems—though those things can help. True resilience shows up in the small, everyday ways a neighborhood can take care of its people.
It’s affordable housing that stays affordable, so families aren’t forced to move every time the market shifts. It’s small business corridors that offer jobs and services even when larger chains pull out. It’s parks and green spaces that provide not only beauty but flood mitigation and shade in the summer heat. It’s community centers that double as emergency shelters. It’s housing that’s energy-efficient and durable so that monthly utility bills stay manageable—even in extreme weather.
These are the kinds of things we prioritize in our developments. Because real estate, when done right, doesn’t just create wealth—it protects it. It creates a safety net.
Listening First, Then Building
One of the biggest mistakes developers can make is assuming they know what a community needs better than the people who live there. Resilience can’t be designed in a vacuum. It has to come from conversation, from listening, from partnership.
That’s why at Kingsley + Co., we always start our projects by talking with the community. What are your biggest worries? What do you love about your neighborhood? What’s missing that you wish you had? These aren’t soft questions—they’re the foundation of everything that follows.
From there, we design with those insights in mind. If a neighborhood is worried about displacement, we build in safeguards. If they need more access to public transportation or local jobs, we think through how our buildings and businesses can help fill that gap. It’s not always quick, and it’s rarely easy. But it’s worth it. Because that’s how you create places people want to stay in—not just because they have to, but because they choose to.
The Role of Partnerships
I’ve learned that no one builds resilience alone. It takes partnerships—between developers, local governments, nonprofits, and community leaders. We’ve been fortunate to work with cities and organizations that understand this. They bring incentives for sustainable design, funding for mixed-income housing, and support for minority-owned businesses.
Through these partnerships, we can take on projects that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Projects that offer long-term value, not just short-term returns. And that’s the sweet spot—where community needs and development goals come together to create something meaningful.
As a former athlete, I know how important it is to play the long game. You don’t win just by showing up. You win by preparing, adjusting, and building something that lasts. That’s the approach I bring to development, and it’s what I hope more of our industry embraces.
Designing resilient neighborhoods isn’t just about surviving the next storm or the next downturn. It’s about creating places where people can thrive, no matter what challenges come their way. It’s about neighborhoods that feel like home—even after hard times. And it’s about development that doesn’t leave anyone behind.
We have the tools. We have the talent. What we need now is the will to do it right.
And that’s what I’m committed to—today, and every day forward.