Greening Indy’s Redevelopment District
About two miles from downtown Indianapolis is the city’s designated smart growth revitalization district, a distressed area with many vacant properties, including a largely...
Journey to Work: What About Bikes?
In a fascinating post over at Next American City, Dave Steele observes a big divide among bike commuters: the affluent, geared-up, environmentalist, health-conscious cyclists...
Using Multiple Community-Based Land Trusts to Save Farmland
Agrarian Commons closely resemble community land trusts, but they are unique in that they work collectively to provide long-term affordable and equitable access of small and mid-sized farms.
Transit Initiatives Boosted by Employers
It’s been clear for several years that more people than ever support public transit. In vote after vote, people...
The Smarter Cities Project Wants Your Input on Sustainability Criteria
As some of you may know, Smarter Cities is an initiative that ranks US cities on a number of key sustainability criteria as well...
Shelter Shorts, The Week in Community Development—Oct. 19
News from—and affecting—the community development world. This week: rent really is racist, new tales of voter suppression, swimming pool access, a response to a pro-gentrification argument, more.
The Invisible Poverty of the Suburbs
Our anti-poverty policies have failed the suburban poor, say Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube.
Their new book, “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America,” highlights our country’s...
Will Obama Fever Heal Black-Latino Relations?
The day before Obama’s thrilling clinching of the Democratic nomination, I met with a group of high school students at the Rudy Lozano Leadership...
Battling Inequity in Food Systems with Entrepreneurship
A number of leadership organizations and initiatives–from large to small–are working to bring about greater economic opportunity in the food system and improve access to healthy food, focusing specifically on communities of color.
A Tale of Two Infrastructure Projects
Living in Central New Jersey, I’ve had a ringside seat for the last few years to one of the...
A Nation—and Neighborhoods—of Immigrants
The story of neighborhood populations changing with waves of migrants is a classic part of the history of American cities. We are, as most...
Integration—We’ve Been Doing It All Wrong
I recently had a revelation about the American approach to racial integration: We've been doing it all wrong, and it's had disastrous effects on African Americans.
Making Food Deserts Bloom
Finding fresh produce in low-income neighborhoods can be a struggle, but community efforts are striving to fill the void.
Serving the Community, In Their Language
From hiring priorities to translation headsets to making special requests of the phone company—the exciting and important work of...
Shelter Shorts—The Week in Community Development, April 13
Really, YIMBYs? | TOD Without Displacement | Tracking 80 Million Evictions | MLK's Campaign, Revitalized | Airbnb Hastening Demise of NOLA Culture? | Bike "Borrowing" for Equity | More
A New Way to Do Affirmative Action?
I was prepared to dislike Sheryll Cashin’s Place, Not Race, just based on the title. However, the author largely won me over.
Three Local Policy Innovations that Promote Inclusive, Equitable Mixed-Income Communities
Making inclusion and equity a reality in more American metropolitan areas is possible. Doing so requires innovations in local, regional, and state policies related to mixed-income communities.
5 Ways to Create Equitable Communities Near Transit
Across the country, regions are working to improve and integrate processes to create livable communities where all residents can affordably access housing, jobs, healthcare,...
Who’s Going to Report the News?
Rooflines has been watching a disturbing decline in the newspaper industry as print media is falling victim to fewer subscribers, falling numbers in advertising,...
Two Years After Hurricane Sandy, Much More Work Remains
Comparing and contrasting both the impact and response to Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, through storytelling.