CDFIs Speed Up Sandy Recovery
When disasters strike, our first responders ensure that emergency resources get to those in need. But...
Integrating Arts and Culture Strategies into Transit Plans
Three transit projects show how artists, transit agencies, and community groups helped communities envision more equitable outcomes.
It Didn’t Begin With Katrina
We must always remember that New Orleans was suffering from an economic and political disaster long before Hurricane Katrina hit.
Ditch Smart Growth; Try Oxygen-Based Development
At the Farm Pond Circle Reforestation Community in South Lansing, N.Y., a small community outside of the small city of...
Section 3: It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way
Section 3 was a truly creative idea when it was inaugerated in 1968: Let's give low-income residents the first crack...
Where We Live Affects How Much We Drive and What We Can Afford
The Urban Land Institute has produced a remarkable report that examines in depth how where we live affects how much we drive, and consequently...
Sec. Foxx’s New Transportation Proposal Is Great
Looks like the Obama administration hasn't given up yet on tackling the big issues that plague our country.Secretary Anthony...
Instantly See Average Transportation Costs, Emissions for Any Location
The latest in the snazzy series of useful tools and research on housing and transportation costs published by the Center for Neighborhood Technology is...
A Voyeur’s View
The author's treatment of race is, at best, contradictory and, at worst, hypocritical and probably the book’s great failing.
One Less Truth-Teller
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Democrat of Ohio, died yesterday after suffering a burst brain aneurysm.
Tubbs Jones, 58, was the first black woman to...
Taking the Bus: Nonprofit Conferences and Integrity of Purpose
Nonprofits advocate for local transit spending, but annual conference logistics don't typically include bus route information for attendees.
Putting Our Heads Together vs. Knocking Heads
Read Rob McKay and Ori Brafman’s recent post at Huffington Post and you’re likely to feel your pulse race over the transformative possibilities of...
“Confronting Suburban Poverty” Authors Respond to Critique
The release a few weeks ago of our book Confronting Suburban Poverty in America is provoking lots of discussion in the...
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...
Have Yourself a Merry TRANSIT Xmas!
I’ve posted a bunch of great transit holiday photos over on my NRDC site. Please check them out, and happy holidays!
photo here of...
SoFi, Not So Good: Is This Virtual Redlining?
SoFi is practicing product segregation. It wants to serve affluent people with its best products and shunt low- and moderate-income borrowers into inferior products that do not meaningfully serve credit needs.
Doubling Down on Community Resilience
Last month here in Rooflines, I argued that place-based community development can make low-income neighborhoods more resilient to climate...
The Most We Can Do: A National Mandate for Housing Justice
As the United States wrestles with its long history of racial injustice, shared-equity programs stand as one solution to address inequality and exclusion in the realms of housing.
A Partner, Not an Expert
Over the course of three decades in the development finance industry, I have learned that engaging and empowering those who have the greatest stake in their communities is the best way to achieve meaningful and lasting change.
Rural Transit: A Matter of Life or Death, and in Danger
In the city, many working people and senior citizens rely on public transit to get to the office, doctor appointments,...