Matthew Brian Hersh

326 Posts

Matthew Brian Hersh served as senior editor at Shelterforce from March 2008 to October 2012. He studied English at Rutgers University and has spent his professional career in journalism, policy, and politics.
Equity

The Felt Factor

With all this talk of sustainable communities, how come we tend to exclude, at least in conversation, the very thing that can educate community members: the media? Would it be […]

Policy

Remaking HUD

Shaun Donovan, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to head HUD, appears to be an indication that this could be the urban policy president we’ve been hoping for. It’s no secret that […]

Housing

Questioning the Bailout

In the forthcoming issue of Shelterforce is an item about Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, chair of the oversight panel formed to monitor the federal bailout for the ailing economy, […]

Communities

Food Banks: Another Crisis Casualty?

Last week, when a prominent and long-standing central New Jersey soup kitchen went to the newspapers as a last resort to inform the public that demand was up, donations were […]

Housing

Talk About Aging In Place…

A community with a sound housing policy would ideally provide low- and moderate-income housing for aging seniors on fixed incomes so that they can downsize while remaining in their community. For seniors of greater means, market rate senior housing near town amenities should be an option. But with The New York Times Saturday reporting that aging in place might, in fact, be a burden, this whole ideal is going out the window.

Housing

Gloomy Outlook for Nonprofits

It’s going to be a while before we begin hearing some good economic news, particularly as the current economic landscape reverberates within the non-profit world. And with that, a forum […]

Equity

What We Talk About When We Talk About Voting Machines

I suppose post-election time is as good a time as any to talk about voting machine flaws, particularly following a decisive presidential election. But, just like falling gas prices in […]

Policy

The Urban (Policy) President?

We anticipated this, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that an Obama administration will contain a Department of Urban Policy. According to a Washington Post blog, plans are in the works […]

Equity

Bagging the Big Apple

In Amsterdam, at a Super de Boer, imagine my surprise when I had to pay for a grocery bag because I didn’t bring my own. In the U.S., I buy […]

Equity

DOJ Passes on Ohio

Well, not so fast. After a report in The Washington Post last weekend indicated that the White House had requested that the Justice Department look into 200,000 names on the […]

Equity

It’s The Great Election, Charlie Brown

Halloween approaches and, as always, we’re found waiting for the Great Pumpkin, er, Election. Immediately following the broadcast Tuesday of the Peanuts classic that tells the story of the mythical […]

Equity

The “What If” Scenario

At the third and final presidential debate, when John McCain proclaimed that, Acorn, the darling target of conservative advocacy groups like FOXNews, could have committed voter registration fraud, he said […]