Miriam Axel-Lute
Miriam Axel-Lute is editor of Shelterforce and associate director of the National Housing Institute. She lives in Albany, New York, where she serves on the Community Development Alliance board.
Using Theater to Envision Racial Equity Solutions
Techniques from the arts world can help us envision and re-envision relationships and systems to spot stress points and opportunities within communities.
From Sustainability to Resilience
My first reaction to the emergence of “resilience” as a lens for viewing community development was mostly informed by skepticism.
Time to Delink Homeownership from Asset Building
Using homeownership as an asset-building mechanism and retirement plan might not be a great thing for our society.
Carson Lies Again as He Announces Plans to Leave HUD
HUD secretary Ben Carson told the right-leaning outlet Newsmax on Monday night that he intends to leave his cabinet post at the end of...
Closing the Divide Between Fair Housing and Affordable Housing
The Regional Affordable & Fair Housing Roundtable pulled off something that has often been elusive—building enough trust between fair housing advocates and place-based community developers to lead to their signing on to a joint agenda.
Housing Markets Vary—So Must Our Tactics
There is widespread understanding about the vast differences in life outcomes that statistically come with different neighborhoods.
YIMBYs: Friend, Foe, or Chaos Agent?
The relationship between pro-building “Yes in My Back Yard” activists, longtime housing advocates, and anti-displacement organizers varies across the country, but has often been fraught with difficulties. Is there a way forward?
Is Local Control Good or Bad?
And how do we get more of the good and less of the bad?
Who Most Needs Access to Core Neighborhoods?
We have a limited number of dense core neighborhoods where getting around without a car and without a lengthy daily commute are possible.
What We Don’t Know About Development and Displacement
The data on the relationship between new development, affordability, and displacement is not nearly as clear-cut as advocates (of all persuasions) often imply.
Housing Quality Is Key to Mental Health
Living in substandard housing affects your mental health as well, several studies have found.
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.
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.
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.
Taking the Bus: Nonprofit Conferences and Integrity of Purpose
Nonprofits advocate for local transit spending, but annual conference logistics don't typically include bus route information for attendees.
There’s Opportunity in Vacancy
Thinking of abandoned properties as merely problems we wish would go away feeds into some of the less productive ways vacant properties have been handled.
State Policies Play a Central Role in the Fight Against Vacant Property
Abandoned and vacant properties seem like a quintessentially local problem. But state policies have a huge effect on how well municipalities can fight it.
Is the Housing Market the Answer to the Racial Wealth Gap?
In discussions around closing the racial wealth gap, we should be reminded that a very large portion of wealth gained by white Americans should be seen as ill-gotten.
Can Housers Unite Around the Warren Proposal?
Every once in a while someone says: "What would it look like if we came together and were united on a federal policy for housing?" It seems like the answer to "who would actually do it?" might currently be Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Renters Rise Again
Rent regulation is no longer being discussed as a vestigial holdover from a previous age, but actively debated and organized for by renters and activists.