Maybe Money Really Can Grow On Trees
Guess what? The local food movement is actually good for your local economy! At least that seems to be...
Common Ground: Smart Growth and Affordable Housing
Smart growth and affordable housing advocates can work together.
Where Do We Go From Here? Toward a New Freedom Budget
If, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, a “budget is a moral document,” then this budget is a reflection of the moralities of the boardroom, the eviction notice, the emergency ward, and the pink slip.
The Jobs-Housing Hamster Wheel
A deeper dive into the cause of high housing prices reveals that it is not the price of lumber, bricks, or labor that accounts for high or low housing prices—the controlling factor most often is the price of land.
Role-Playing for Energy Efficiency
Connecticut experiments with a “megacommunity strategic simulation” to move the needle on residential energy efficiency—providing a look at a tool that could also apply to other community development challenges.
Interview With Tom Szaky, Founder, Terracycle
We spoke with Tom Szaky, TerraCycle's founder and CEO, about social enterprise, locating in a distressed community, and what he as an employer would want out of workforce development programs.
With Rising Property Taxes, Should Non-Profits Now Pay Their “Fair Share”?
It’s tight here in New Jersey.
And it’s because it’s crowded. With 8.7 million people, we are 11th in the country in population, but...
The Slow Building Movement
Standing at the northern gateway of Milwaukee’s Fifth Ward and the confluence of the Menomonee and Milwaukee Rivers is...
Cut the Red Tape – Local Hire Needed
Last month, USDOT Secretary Anthony Foxx announced a new, year long model program to test innovative local hire policies....
What’s Next in Arts & Economic Development
There’s something you should know about me: I’m a professional amateur. For the past seven years I’ve been co-writing and...
Advancing Economic Opportunity Through Diversity
Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in an important and powerful conversation about the importance of diversity and inclusion in achieving economic equity at the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) conference in Denver, Colorado. This is a topic that hits close to home for me. Before I joined JPMorgan Chase, I spent 10 years at […]
Lessons for the U.S.: How the EU Controls Bidding Wars for Jobs and Investment
The European Union’s rules on subsidies limit bidding wars, and make the level of incentives we have seen for Amazon, Foxconn, and other companies completely impossible.
Long Time Coming
After 40 years of abuse and neglect, will the residents of D.C.'s once-vibrant Shaw neighborhood succeed in redefining the value of people and place?
Impact Investing for Community Development
New sources of mission-driven private capital could step up to support community development where traditional sources of financing are withdrawing.
Great Falls And The Silk City
PATERSON, New Jersey — It’s early February and the air temperature hovers in the low teens — never mind the windchill that could only...
Cape Cod’s Fish Pier Is Tourist Bait
Last year I wrote on Rooflines about a personal connection I had to the time when Cape Cod, that...
Uber-noxious
At the PolicyLink Equity Summit the last week of October, Orson Aguilar of the Greenlining Institute was taking a...
Q: Do economic development incentives support small businesses?
A. Not very much. Despite the claims of many states, when you look at the numbers, the vast majority of taxpayer dollars directed to economic development go to big corporations.
The Displacement Crisis of Immigrant-Owned Small Businesses
Growth of new business is a sign of a robust economy, but New York City’s true success hinges on ensuring that all residents have access to opportunity and community resources.
Don’t Go Back to Old Economic Development Ways
Cities have led the way in enacting equity-focused pandemic policies. It’s time to build on that momentum, starting with neighborhoods.