Tax Credits Play A Critical Role in Economic Development
In his recent speech to Congress, President Trump included this pledge: “Every American child should be able to grow up in a safe community...
In Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Seeks to Be a Good Neighbor
The current HopkinsLocal effort, a three-year program launched in September 2015, is also clearly a response to the death of Freddie Gray and the events that followed.
Reconnecting Jobs and Housing
National community development leaders discuss making the case for housing in a "jobs above all else" political environment.
Manufactured Locally
While there is much debate about the state of large-scale domestic manufacturing, a few places are quietly supporting local manufacturing for items that have been made overseas for some time, from jewelry to jeans.
The Raw Extraction Economy
By now most people in urban America who pay attention to the news have heard of fracking, the practice of...
Local Leaders Just Gained a New Tool to Address Inequality
A new Brookings Institution analysis confirms what we are feeling: inequality continues to climb in cities, and large income...
Neighborhood Schools that Work for Kids, Communities, & the Environment
Smart Growth Schools expert Nathan Norris lists 11 key principles for measuring how well schools and school policies fit in with their communities. I...
Want a Stronger Economy? Focus More on Racial Inclusion
As housing and community development practitioners, you need little convincing that dismantling racial barriers to economic opportunity—from policing practices to exclusionary zoning—is critical to building stronger, more cohesive communities. But what about the economic cost of these persistent racial inequities? Might segregated regions not just undermine the country’s moral fabric, but also hinder its […]
Regenerating a Place of Cultural Pride and Healing in Albuquerque’s Barelas Neighborhood
Restoring a community's culturally significant site in Albuquerque to be a true economic resource as well as a source of healing.
Take and Give
Turning eminent domain into a tool for creating vital communities hinges on crafting a delicate balance between all who stand to benefit -- or lose out -- from the transformation of a neighborhood.
Letting the Dollars Land
To realize the promise of community investment, the capacity of specific places to absorb available capital needs to grow.
Let’s Take Advantage of The Bad Times
With city budgets shrinking rapidly, municipal governments are desperate to collect property tax revenue wherever they can find it. So they are moving to...
Time to Bet on Prize-Linked Savings
During 15 years of working within a community development corporation to create and support socially and economically resilient communities, one of my perpetual frustrations...
Q: What’s the difference between community economic development and traditional economic development ?
A: A lot! In fact, they are so different that the Democracy Collaborative, which made the chart below, has coined the term “community wealth building” to set apart the truly community-oriented practitioners of economic development.
Duty to Serve: A Boon for Shared Equity Homeownership
Shared equity homeownership programs just had a big win.
Fighting for Their Hometown in The Place That Makes Us
A review of the 2020 documentary, The Place That Makes Us, directed by Karla Murthy. 70 minutes.
CLTs Go Commercial
The idea of turning the community land trust model into an economic development tool is attracting growing interest, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how it would work.
Lifting the Fog on Section 3
When it's more appealing to circumvent the law requiring that jobs in public housing construction go to qualified residents than to follow it, something needs to change.
You’re Gonna Change the Economy? How, Exactly?
If people were surprised at how skeptical voters in the recent West Virginia Democratic primary were of Barack Obama’s casting himself as the candidate...
NSP2 Announcement Coming Soon
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan is expected to announce the NSP2 grantees, benefitting from nearly $2 billion of neighborhood stabilization program funds made available in...