Plucked from New York City's Department of Housing Preservation & Development, Shaun Donovan is leading the effort to make the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development into a relevant, powerful agency. ·
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama administration is equipped with an impressive list of housing experts at the top. ·
The Community Reinvestment Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act hold great promise for the creation of a more financially inclusive nation, but both depend on critical "moments in time" in Congress that will determine whether they become good laws or are weakened beyond recognition
As a wave of HUD mortgages expires in the next four years, an already dwindling supply of affordable units may nosedive with owners making windfall profits -- unless the right mix of federal legislation and local organizing can save the day. ·
The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act provides much-needed relief for tenants across the country in properties undergoing foreclosure. But with one-third of Americans living as tenants, is this a sign of a protracted federal response, or is it a one-shot deal?
The nonprofit housing development field has myriad intermediaries and support organizations, but no one unified voice. Should it have one? ·
As the Bluff City picks itself up, its CDC community faces a host of challenges that are increasingly common across the field. ·
The story of the American foreclosure crisis begins with reckless and abusive lending that leads to a wholesale emptying out of homes. But the story is far from over. ·
Vacant land gives way to residential and commercial development is a classic urban renewal storyline, but DC's Columbia Heights is getting more than just retail and residential: it’s reclaiming its history. ·
How can we practice effective community development and engage a community that suffers from a dwindling stock of physical historical references and is in the process of healing from the wounds of decades of urban decay? In the Bronx, community members are coming together, taking pieces of the past and making history. ·
What started out as a "weird art project" in Toronto is providing aural illustrations into a northern New Jersey community's past, and, organizers hope, laying the groundwork for the future. ·
Transit advocates and CDCs in two parts of the greater Boston region are building cross-movement coalitions that are making equitable transit-oriented development a part of the fight for better transit access. ·
Towns long in Chicago’s shadow have sought creative ways to collaborate for federal funding, while building off existing partnerships as part of a long-term approach to neighborhood, and regional, stabilization. ·
In and around the Twin Cities, there is a tolerance for process and building relationships to handle the pressing challenges facing neighborhoods. ·
In the past decade, community land trusts and other shared equity housing models have gained wider acknowledgement and acceptance as a means of creating and preserving affordable housing in communities with high property values. But by cultivating the long-term success of homeowners, these models are also bringing revitalization and stability to areas with weak markets and high foreclosures. ·
Homeownership can often be a way for families to get good stable housing as well as an effective vehicle for them to accumulate wealth. However, owning a home is not likely to be a wise investment for families in unstable work or family situations. ·
Over the past few years faith-based organizing networks have broken onto the national organizing scene, adding grass-roots power and issue expertise to some of the biggest problems of the day. ·
The progressive movement is seeing a resurgence of younger organizers thanks, in part, to the "Obama effect" of the 2008 campaign, and a renewed attempt to articulate values and build authentic relationships. ·
Shelterforce interviews George Moses, chairman of the board of the National Low Income Housing Coalition ·
Rooflines will be live blogging from the National…
Posted 10 Mar 10
For decades, the United States government, pushed by its business partners in the financial and real estate world, "marched the nation into a delusion." The fantasy is that we can create wealth for millions of homeowners by enriching investors, brokerage and mortgage companies and Wall Street bankers "to the fullest extent possible with few boundaries."
National Housing Institute
