In the early 90s, residents of Melrose Commons, a 35 block area in the South Bronx and one of the nation’s poorest congressional districts, fought against a redevelopment plan for the area which would displace them completely. Magnusson Architecture and Planning was involved from the beginning in helping a grassroots community group, Comite Nos Quedamos/We Stay, generate a redevelopment plan that included area residents instead of displacing them, which MAP then helped to usher through New York City’s government approval process. With the establishment of the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal area, Nos Quedamos and MAP set a new precedent for urban community planning and design, forcing cities to include residents in the planning process instead of excluding them. When the Urban Renewal plan reaches its fruition, MAP will have designed over 1,000,000 sf of housing in addition to commercial space, community facilities, and parks and open space.