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HOLC map of Oakland, California, with areas shaded in red, blue, yellow, and green. Around the edges of the map, in tiny type, are listed all the streets of the city. At the top, in elegant lettering, reads "Thomas Bros./Map of/Oakland/Berkeley/Alameda/San Leandro/Piedmont/Emeryville/Albany." The lettering gets smaller as it goes down the list. Inset into the top right of the map is a black-and-white map of Hayward.
Opinion

Redlining Maps Didn’t Affect Neighborhoods the Way You Think They Did

Home Owners’ Loan Corporation maps have long been blamed for racial inequities in today’s Black neighborhoods, but recent research shows that’s misleading.

Seven people in standing with fists raised on a city plaza. All are dressed for cool weather, with mufflers and/or jackets, and caps, including four Santa hats. All are wearing masks as well as orange T-shirts with CEER in large white letters with smaller lettering below that says "Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience."
Interview

In Houston, ‘Climate Ambassadors’ Represent Their Own Neighborhoods

CEER recruits residents to gauge their communities’ climate needs and to act as climate educators. Shelterforce asked Rita Robles and Carmen Cavezza about the program, how it works, and future plans.

Four-story apartment complex in bright sunlight, a putty gray with a strip of green at the roofline. Tow cars are parked in front and there are three small trees evenly spaces along the edge of the parking area.
Reported Article

How Quito’s Climate Relocation Plan Left 44 Families in Jeopardy

Thirteen years ago, an ambitious government initiative set out to move hundreds of families away from perilous conditions, including landslides, in Ecuador’s capital. Today, 37 of those households are still waiting for the subsidies they need to become true owners of their new homes.

A crowded lawn at an apartment complex, with people standing or sitting in lawn chairs, children sitting on the ground.
Reported Article

Will This Resident Group Get Full Control of the Complex They Helped Fix?

For decades, a group of Cambodian refugees worked to improve and upgrade their Stockton, California, affordable housing complex. While they technically own half of the property, they’re still waiting for HUD to approve their full ownership. Why hasn’t it happened yet?

Distant view of wildfire in Colorado. In the middle distance are houses and buildings. Beyond them, on the far side of an open landscape of grasses, are more settled areas. Some of the buildings are burning. Over the distant ground, thick dark smoke covers the right-hand seven-eighths of the image.At far left is a bit of blue sky.
Reported Article

What Two Wildfires Reveal About the Cracks in Our Emergency Response

Thousands lost their homes in the Almeda and Marshall fires. Years into long-term recovery, a look at who received emergency assistance and who was left out can teach us a lot about which populations are most vulnerable to climate events.

View from middle distance of small village in Alaska under wide cloudy blue sky. The most visible building are low, pitched-roof, red buildings. Beyond them are clustered other houses. The foreground is a flat, snowy or icy ground, possibly a road.
Opinion

Retreating From the Coasts Makes Sense, But Our Current Approach Isn’t Working

As flooding, sea level rise, fires, and other climate impacts increase, we’ll need to move about 20 million Americans by 2100. Here’s how we can rethink managed retreat to get ahead of the rising tides.

Reported Article

What Makes Affordable Housing ‘Green’?

There’s no one way to determine what makes “green” housing. Here’s a breakdown of the standards and considerations used by the affordable housing industry.

A smiling woman wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts extends on arm to the sky while the other touches an air conditioner that shit in the trunk of a car.
Reported Article

Beating Extreme Heat as a Community

U.S. cities don’t provide residents with enough protection against heat, the deadliest weather-related killer in the world. But in NYC, one organization came together to distribute ACs to neighbors in need.

State & Local Policy

How Policy Can Help Tenants Purchase Their Homes, a Webinar

Laws that give tenants the ability to purchase their own apartments are popping up across the country. In this webinar, a panel of folks who have been reporting on, fighting for, and using these policies offer their perspectives on this powerful anti-displacement tool. 

Reported Article

Does Cleveland’s Plan for Public Green Space Pave the Way for Gentrification?

Who gets to benefit from neighborhood revitalization efforts, and at what cost?

A row of homes across a street. Car are parked on both sides of the street.
Reported Article

D.C. Had the Country’s First TOPA Law. Could Real Estate Developers Gut It?

Developers are pushing for two exemptions to the landmark tenant rights legislation—affordable housing properties and buildings that are 25 years old or newer.

An ancient mural of a female deity, in tones of green and rust/brick, with some blue. Her face is green, her eyes wide open and staring, and her hands held out to the sides. She wears an elaborate headdress made of feathers with a birdlike visage on it.
Review

A (Much) Older Example of Social Housing Than Vienna

History often feels like a depressing account of the worst things people can do to each other. But a recent book contains reminders that nothing is inevitable, and sometimes people have done better than we’re doing now—even in terms of housing and social equity.