Community-Labor: A Coalition Whose Time Has Come
Ed Gorman of the NCRC board introduced Mark Ayers, president of the building trades department of the AFL-CIO, as “the man who is opening the door” to community-labor partnerships. Speaking […]
Nonprofit Chamber of Commerce?
When you see a conference plenary session described as “positioning your organization for growth,” you probably expect some descriptions of grant writing strategies or succession planning. That is distinctly not […]
Housing Counseling in Danger: They Say Cut Backs, We Say ??
Housing counseling works. Counselors form a critical bridge between servicers and homeowners in distress, advocating for them in the face of perverse servicer incentives, lost paperwork, and unclear outcomes, and […]
Rent Regulation in the Great Recession
Over at the Gotham Gazette, David King walks us through the latest round of politics over New York City’s rent regulation laws, which have to be renewed by the state […]
No One Left Behind
By 2050, possibly sooner, people of color will be a majority in our nation. There is no way we can build a strong, stable economy if that majority is denied […]
No More Crumbs
When I attended a housing-focused conference right after Election Day last year, there was an understandable pall cast over any discussions of politics and political will. So I thought this […]
Can We Stay, Can We Go? A Discussion on Displacement, Mobility, and Concentration of Poverty
As part of a research project funded by the Open Society Institute, one of the sessions Monday at the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual policy conference was a “guided […]
Homeownership Is a Bad Investment?
This chart from Visualizing Economics calls into question the bedrock assertion that housing is a good investment, showing that its real value doesn’t actually rise. The accompanying post says basically […]
What Is the Emergency in Michigan?
From one perspective, the recent expansion of the Michigan’s 1990 Emergency Financial Management Act is just the latest salvo in a right-wing-led war against the rights of workers to organize. […]
Can’t Sue ‘Em? You Can Move Your Money
Local governents, frustrated (there’s an understatement for you) with the devastating effects of massive foreclosures have tried suing lenders for essentially offering defective products, and also for discriminatory treatment. Albany […]
Can Lease-Purchase Save Us?
As developers struggle to find buyers for rehabbed affordable homes, many are looking to a lease-purchase model to expand the pool of potential owners. But lease-purchase is far more complicated than just an end-run around the credit crunch.
Making Connections
How often have you heard the phrase “affordable transportation” as a companion to “affordable housing”? My first time was at the National Inclusionary Housing Conference in Washington, D.C., in early […]