Menino Fellow Augustine Jimenez Attends NLC City Summit in Charlotte
NLC Fellow Augustine Jimenez Attends the City Summit in Charlotte
Our 2017-2018 National League of Cities Fellow, Augustine Jimenez, recently attended the NLC City Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina. More than 4,000 attendees participated in hands-on workshops, learned from seminars by city leaders, and networked with other delegates in local government. Topics included sustainability, economic development, housing, technology, and more.
Hear from Augustine below about his experience.
What did you do at the NLC Summit?
At the NLC I followed the schedule for the Youth Delegate sessions, during which high school students from around the country learned from public officials about urban policy issues.
What was your favorite part of being there or what’s something new you learned?
My favorite part of the summit was walking around Charlotte and observing the different types of housing developments going on around the city. Some of the delegates were from Charlotte and nearby cities so seeing the connection between Charlotte as I experienced it and the delegates’ opinions, concerns and dreams for their own cities was great.
How did the summit tie in with your current research project?
The summit allowed me to hear many of the life stories that inform mayors’ policies in their cities, some related to my research topic of housing.
What are you most looking forward to when you work with NLC in the spring?
I most look forward to learning about some of the major urban issues in the Washington, D.C. area. Gentrification has been a growing issue in DC, which disproportionately impacts communities of color and immigrant communities. My research now looks at housing policies and challenges for Haitian and Dominican immigrant communities in Boston so there’s a really interesting parallel there.
How did you first get interested in your topic?
I first became interested in my topic after hearing how expensive housing is in Boston for working-class people.