The data on the relationship between new development, affordability, and displacement is not nearly as clear-cut as advocates (of all persuasions) often imply.
Greening Vacant Lots: Low Cost, Big Effect in Philly
A Philadelphia program is cleaning up abandoned lots, helping formerly incarcerated residents get jobs, and improving the overall health and well-being of neighborhoods.
The Mission: End Childhood Lead Poisoning in Rochester
In the 1990s, Rochester, New York, had an alarmingly large number of children who had elevated lead levels in their blood. Decades later, the rate has decreased by 85 percent. This is how a local coalition made it happen.
Gentrification Was the Killer in Oakland Fire
It’s usually hard to distinguish a victim of gentrification. Many people have a story of getting priced out of their neighborhoods, of being looked...
What Anchor Institutions Can Do by Working Together
Anchor institutions are beginning to realize that they face similar challenges and, by joining forces, can accomplish goals that once seemed out of reach.
Q: Can Nonprofits Get Out the Vote?
A. Yes! Nonprofits are often uncertain about what they can legally do, but they can get out the vote among their residents, clients, and staff.
Expanding Community Benefits Agreements to Events
Shelterforce spoke with Race Forward’s Leslie Grant-Spann to find out what it means to have a community benefits agreement for an event, and why it’s important to think about the local impacts of large events.
Public Land Should be Used for Public Good
When a vacant lot in Oakland was close to becoming the home of a 24-story, market-rate development, local activists worked together to prevent it from happening.
Tracing the Roots of CDFIs: A review of Democratizing Finance
This book is a major contribution to increasing knowledge and awareness of how far the community development finance movement has come in 30 years.
Shelter Shorts, The Week in Community Development—Feb. 15
Did Amazon meet its match?, Latinx homelessness, Broken Windows-clarified, Supporting victims of wage theft, One more big bank, more.
Long Before Redlining: Racial Disparities in Homeownership Need Intentional Policies
The wealth gap is probably best illustrated in the way our country has, and has not, provided access to the single most important determinant of wealth for the majority of people in the United States—home and landownership.
An Opportunity for Housing Providers to Help Renters Build Credit
Of the 987 low-income renters whose rents were reported through a pilot program, 79 percent saw their VantageScore increase by an average of 23 points, and 15 percent moved into a lower credit score risk tier.
Shelter Shorts, The Week in Community Development—Feb. 8
Hurricane Maria's toll on the mental health of those who moved, a forever home for artists in New York City, Greenwich CT is stressed out, Love a vacant lot, A federal watchdog shouldn't watch itself, Social isolation remedies, more.
The Fight for Stronger Rent Regulation in New York Is Beginning
New York’s rent regulation laws, which protect over 1 million renter households in New York City and Westchester, Nassau, and Rockland counties, are up for renewal this year.
Housing Quality Is Key to Mental Health
Living in substandard housing affects your mental health as well, several studies have found.
Who Will Benefit From Opportunity Zones? It’s Still Unclear
Who will benefit most from these investments remains the biggest question.
Joining Loans and Policy Grants to Get More Affordable Housing in the Bay Area
A pair of funds backed by philanthropic heavy hitters tries to take advantage of a moment when all eyes are on housing.
Shelter Shorts, The Week in Community Development—Feb. 1
Coffee shops into community assets, Sen. Crapo's plan to eliminate affordable housing goals, zoning out families, zombie properties in Florida, social determinants of health in the news, climate resilience
CDFIs Stepped Up During the Shutdown
CDFIs across the country were trying to do what they could to ease the effects of the recent government shutdown. Here is just a partial list.