Alan Mallach
Alan Mallach, senior fellow at the Center for Community Progress and the National Housing Institute, is the author of many works on housing and planning, including Bringing Buildings Back, A Decent Home, and Inclusionary Housing in International Perspective. He served as director of housing and economic development for Trenton, New Jersey, from 1990 to 1999, and teaches in the City and Regional Planning program at Pratt Institute.
NIMBYites Lose One
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in June that affordable housing development can’t be stopped on the grounds it might hurt neighbors’ property values....
Double Bottom Line
A Tacoma, Washington CDC is putting at least $250,000 into developing a “double bottom line” real estate fund that will invest in struggling neighborhoods...
S.F. Boosts Affordability
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law an inclusionary housing policy aimed at creating more affordable homes in the city. Fifteen percent...
Storied Groups Close
The Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, a Chicago fair housing advocacy group with a small geographic range but a national impact, ended operations...
The Big Bond
Los Angeles is putting the largest municipal housing bond ever on its ballot this November. The $1 billion bond would pay for an estimated...
Miami Scandal
After the Miami Herald reported that the city-county housing authority had squandered millions of dollars intended for homes for low-income residents, community activists declared...
A Little Too Blunt?
Alphonso Jackson, HUD’s tough-talking chief, might have spoken a little too bluntly in Dallas in April. Speaking before a gathering of business leaders, Jackson...
GSE Not Doing Enough?
A Texas nonprofit says Fannie Mae doesn’t serve enough people who are low-income and of color in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. After four years...
Former Prisoners Get A Break
Boston took a big step this spring to help reintegrate ex-felons into their communities, by easing background checks on potential city employees. The city...
OTS Strikes Again
Last year the federal Office of Thrift Supervision weakened the responsibilities of many mid-sized banks under the Community Reinvestment Act by redefining them as...
All Out for Affordability
Irvine, a city of 180,000 in conservative Orange County, California, plans to make 10 percent of its housing stock permanently affordable. The city set...
Meanest Cities
Sarasota, Florida, tops a list of the meanest cities in America compiled by the National Coalition for the Homeless and National Law Center on...
More Budget Follies
President Bush issued another round of proposed cuts to housing and social service programs in February as he sent his latest budget to Congress....
Settlement Not Enough?
In the second largest settlement ever involving an alleged predatory lender, Ameriquest agreed to a $325 million settlement in January after a two-year investigation...
Designing Affordable Housing
Good design and affordability are not mutually exclusive, but finding help to bring these two together can be tough.
From Eyesores to Assets: CDC Abandoned Property Strategies
To save a neighborhood that’s in danger of going down, you can’t simply add new homes. You have to put the process of decline in reverse