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Community Development Field
Shelterforce considers “community development” to be an extremely broad term. But there are still many conversations about the ways in which that broad work happens. Comprehensively or in coalitions of specialized organizations? Locally or regionally? Place or people? While the answers to all of these are usually “both,” there are many conversations to be had about “how.”
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Which Way Community Development?
The community development field is in an interesting and challenging spot right now. Our new Under the Lens series zooms in and explores this moment in the field.
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Unfair Market Rents: How Inflation Is Skewing FMRs
“Fair market rents” are set by HUD and used to determine how much federal assistance programs will pay toward rent. But with rental costs rising so rapidly, they aren’t keeping up.
Dear CDFI Colleagues: It’s Time to be Transparent About Salaries in Job Postings
Companies that value meritocracy perform worse with pay equity when their internal policies do not align with their public-facing statements regarding pay.
A New ‘Normal’: Nonprofits and the Next Phase of COVID
Two years after the pandemic began, community development organizations reflect on what’s changed and how they’re moving forward. Some are still in crisis mode; others are refocusing their work.
Residents Owning Their Local Economy
In the face of extractive “investments,” communities are exploring creative models that let them both exert control and earn returns themselves.
Affordable ADUs: How It’s Being Done
In the face of limited financing options, local governments, nonprofits, and social enterprises are experimenting with ways to make affordable ADUs a reality.
How Financing Barriers Keep ADUs Expensive
Most homeowners have neither the capital nor the credit to self-finance an ADU or get a loan to build one. If financing doesn’t change, ADUs will stay niche and expensive.
What Happened to Those Build Back Better Housing Investments?
Build Back Better would have made huge new investments in housing. But most of what it promised isn’t going to happen. Would any housing plan have a chance of making it through Congress?
How an Obscure HUD Definition Is Leaving Housing Dollars Unspent
Agencies are required to set aside a percentage of their HOME grants for projects led by community housing development organizations. But changes HUD implemented in 2013 have made it harder for nonprofits to receive those funds.
Alphabet Soup: Breaking Down All Those Housing and Community Development Terms
Confused by the acronyms and initials dotting your reading material? All fields have them, and housing is no exception. Here’s what many of the most common mean.
Eviction Reduction Should Be an Explicit Goal of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program
The largest source of subsidy for building affordable housing doesn’t come with meaningful eviction reduction requirements, or even incentives. But it could.
What Can Be Done When LIHTC Affordability Restrictions Expire?
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program has helped create more than 3 million affordable units across the country. But if something isn’t done soon, thousands of those homes could be lost forever as affordability periods expire.
Housers Build Bridges Over the Digital Divide
Internet connectivity has become equally important to households as basic utilities, but millions of people who live in affordable housing still lack access to devices and connections. Housing managers across the country are finding innovative ways to close the digital gap.