This news update is brought to you by the City of Long Beach. To find out more about City programs, projects, initiatives and services, please visit longbeach.gov. To find events near you, please visit the City calendar at www.longbeach.gov/events. And follow us on social media @longbeachcity.
Love Your Block: LB’s Community-Driven Neighborhood Makeovers
By Staff Writer
Published on Wed, Mar 12, 2025
Ever wanted to plant a community garden? Organize a mural project? Set up neighborhood clean-ups?
With support from the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University, Long Beach has joined a national network of cities committed to amplifying resident-led solutions for neighborhood improvement. Love Your Block is a dynamic program designed to energize neighborhoods, inspire grassroots action and turn community-driven dreams into reality.
Nationwide, Love Your Block has already positively impacted nearly 50,000 residents who have improved nearly 4,000 public spaces—creating nearly 800 art displays, cleaning 102,000 square feet of graffiti and removing 6.7 million pounds of trash in 50 cities across 33 states.
Love Your Block is an invitation for Long Beach residents to play an active role in shaping their neighborhoods. It’s an opportunity for locals to tackle challenges, beautify public spaces, and build stronger, more connected communities—one block at a time.
With a special focus on West Long Beach for the first year, Love Your Block will support the City’s Westside Promise Initiative, a 10-year community investment plan to address current and historic challenges facing West Long Beach.
Residents attending a Love Your Block information session.
Through a community-led Civic Deliberation Team, residents will come together to address challenges and drive meaningful change. The Civic Deliberation Team will identify a key priority, develop an action plan and create challenge statements to guide residents in submitting grant proposals. Through a series of workshops, the team will ensure that funding is directed toward impactful, community-driven projects that align with needs.
As part of the effort, Love Your Block will provide mini-grants of up to $2,500, empowering community members to take action and create lasting change.
Long Beach residents, especially those living in West Long Beach, interested in applying for a mini-grant, joining the For Your Block Civic Deliberation Team, or volunteering for the program are encouraged to complete the Love Your Block Interest Form.
Whether you're passionate about sprucing up your street, adding a splash of local art, or strengthening bonds with your neighbors, this is your chance to make a tangible impact.
For more information and updates, visit the Love Your Block webpage.
