Broad-based citizen participation and involvement - it is important to increase the number of citizens participating in public discussions and decision-making, and therefore important to create and support inclusive, respectful community-based environments that empower citizens to learn and work together across boundaries of race, socioeconomic class, and neighborhood.

Social justice and equity - neighborhood-based organizing and development have the potential to facilitate the networks, education, and changes required to create a more just and equitable society, one in which every adult and child in a city has the opportunities and options he or she needs.

Facilitative leadership and governance - the best public decisions draw upon and strengthen community members' capacities, values and resources, and therefore that public officials and staffs should play a facilitative rather than directive role in public decision-making

Neighborhood scale - working at a neighborhood scale holds a rich and powerful potential for effective, efficient and multi-disciplinary systems of economic and social support, public decision-making and accountability.