Topic
Equity
What is equity? Can it be measured? How and when does the issue come up in housing, education, employment, public utilities, and more? How are community organizations, grant-making institutions, and policymakers working to advance equity?
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How a Data Center Derailed $240,000 for Affordable Housing in Rural Maine
In rural Midcoast Maine, nearly one-quarter of $1 million in federal money earmarked for housing was rescinded from a small town after local officials sought to use the funds for a data center.
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Unsafe, Segregated Housing is Never “Fair”
Concord Homes in Beaumont, Texas, is the archetype of distressed public housing in America: Physically deteriorated, environmentally blighted and built in an era when racial segregation was a public goal […]
How Are We Responsible for Baltimore?
Over the last few years, slowly but surely, the reality of the lived experience of black American women has continued to come to light. Historically, when state violence is discussed […]
Rich Neighborhood in NYC Actually Gets a “Noxious” Use
A core environmental justice fight has long been the fair distribution of necessary nuisance uses throughout a city. Poor neighborhoods tend to be over-burdened with unpleasant parts of public infrastructure […]
Policy Victory Means Millions for Lower 9th Ward
For the first time, federal disaster funds will be provided to those who spent thousands of dollars on temporary housing after their homes were destroyed. For many homeowners across Louisiana, this will be enough to return and rebuild. Nearly 700 families in the Lower 9th Ward may qualify.
A Stubborn Gap
The difference in aggregate home value between blacks and whites in the American South has remained startlingly steady through periods of dramatic social change.
Filling Commercial Vacancies with Food Pantries
When I tell people that food pantries can be a new and innovative way to help lift up communities, they look at me as if I’m a bit out of […]
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 crises. A commenter countered that my article undermined “income mobility” strategies—which […]
Conflict and Placemaking: Tactical Urbanism on Nicollet Mall
Earlier this year, the City of Minneapolis broke ground on a $50 million overhaul of Nicollet Mall, a 12-block centerpiece of its downtown. Like many main street projects, the Nicollet […]
Is Rags to Riches the Right Measure?
Comparative income quintiles don’t tell us very much about the material conditions of people’s lives. When someone rises into the top fifth, someone else falls into the bottom fifth.
Common Sense Is Community Development’s Most Powerful Ally
The title of this post proved itself to be true for us in Duluth, when local organizations got together to address the growing need for healthy food in our low-income […]
The Best Thing I Didn’t Hear All Week
I’m in Lexington, Ky., this week for the National Community Land Trust Network conference, hosted by the Lexington Community Land Trust. The Lexington CLT had an unusual start—it was created […]
A Fair Approach to Fair Housing
When we received Shelterforce’s newsletter a month ago with ‘Section 8 Ghetto’ in the subject line, we were quite dismayed. Our organization, the National Housing Trust, is dedicated to preserving […]