2 Easy Ways HUD Could Bring More NOLA Homeowners Home—With Money It Already Has
Donna Bartholomew’s mother moved to New Orleans as a young woman and bought a home in the Ninth Ward. Over the years, raising...
NatGeo Surveys Countries’ Transit Use: Guess Who Comes In Last
Americans are far less likely to use public transportation than residents of other countries, according to the National Geographic Society’s 2009 Greendex report. Only...
The Mystery of a Mere Idea
Compelling ideas are all you need to start a revolution. That could be one lesson to take from the experience of Van Jones, the...
The Bicycle Mandate
New York City Council approved a measure, the Bicycle Access Bill, that requires buildings with freight elevators to allow for bicycle access. The measure,...
Attitudes Toward Exploited Cities Helped Poison Flint
Flint’s water crisis started long before corrosive river water starting running through its pipes. Though there’s no question that those who signed off on...
“Why Would a Hospital Do This?” Shifting Institutional Culture for Health Equity
Hanaa Hamdi is the director of health impact investment strategies and partnerships at New Jersey Community Capital, the state’s largest CDFI. Michellene Davis is...
Blog-Heavy, Link-Heavy, (and Some) Breaking News
It’s now a regular exercise where we report the demise of another respected, long-standing, print media outfit and while news that the Hearst Corporation-owned...
Terrorism in Charlottesville — And Possibly Your Town Next
The Trump-era increase widespread racial terror, as was on display in Charlottesville, is going to affect community developers' work at least as much as as his legislative and funding agenda.
Can Using a Racial Equity Lens Increase Capital in Communities of Color?
If CDFIs adopted traditional appraisal standards to determine loan amounts, they'd make very few loans in the communities they were founded to serve.
Sustainability’s Bottom Line
Are our presidential candidates (yes, including vice presidential candidate Clinton) thinking about sustainable initiatives for environmental improvement, city vitality, and sound fiscal order? Or...
Just as I Suspected, Paying Rent Is Racist
Every month millions of Black Americans hand over half of our livelihood to the descendants of those who forcefully brought our ancestors here to work for free. Essentially, America is in the business of charging its captives rent.
Don’t Just Investigate, Apply the ACORN Rule
When ACORN, a community organizing anti-poverty group, was stripped of federal funds after (false) accusations of voter fraud were pushed...
Get Your Bike On
Last night, on Halloween, I saw a hundred bicyclists take command of the street. Wearing all manner of clever costume, they rode confidently in...
Do Denser, Poorer Areas Need More Third Places?
"In Kibera, the streets are truly the public spaces, and people are out all day, every day: selling, socializing, trading. People make their living—they...
Prioritizing Inclusion and Equity in the Next Generation of Mixed-Income Communities
An introduction to a new series of essays on mixed income communities that will comprise the fifth volume in the San Francisco Fed's 'What Works' series.
Equitable Tax Reform Begins at Home(ownership)
Talk of tax reform has reached a fever pitch, but most Americans don't realize just how high the stakes are and what impact the final legislation could have on their own financial security for years to come.
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.
Let’s Get Explicit: Social Justice in Asset Based Community Development
Four Asset Based Community Development practices that support social justice frameworks when practitioners make them explicit and intentional.
Where Banks and the Public Agree on CRA . . . and Disagree
Despite a CRA exam pass rate of 98 percent, the major thrust of bank comments is that they want easier exams with fewer moving parts and less uncertainty.
Taking Blame for the Floods
We stood at the end of a road leading into the waters of the Mississippi River, which had burst through a levee in Gulfport,...