Golf Course Wars in Benton Harbor
Golf courses have been lightning rods and symbols for class struggle around the world, as in Morelos, Mexico, where a golf course sucking up...
‘Gentrification’ is a Linguistic Weapon Hurting Us All
As the challenges of community development have evolved and become more complex especially over the last decade, the language used to frame and define...
Interpreting Segregation
The Poverty & Race Research Action Council has received a number of inquiries on the widely publicized report from the...
Interview with Tony Pickett, Urban Land Conservancy
Probably no one in the country is in a better position than Tony Pickett to talk about efforts to include long-term affordable housing in two of the nation’s largest Transit Oriented Development (TOD) ventures: Denver’s FasTracks plan, and Atlanta’s Beltline project.
Where’s the Alt-City?
On a trip yesterday into Richmond, Va., I made sure to pick up some of the free media that clutter the doorways of bookshops...
It Doesn’t Matter if Your Neighborhood Is Going to Eventually Gentrify
“We could use some gentrification here.” Let's never say this—we must refrain from debating the long-term likelihood of gentrification in distressed places.
Greening Vacant Land
Urban agriculture projects bring hope -- and food -- to communities that have long suffered from a glut of empty lots.
How We Connect: Bridging the Gap Between Neighborhoods Through Public Land
When I worked as a local newspaper reporter, it was frustrating to see community members with ideas of how to transform or beautify their...
Sustainable for Whom? Large-Scale Sustainable Urban Development Projects and “Environmental Gentrification”
Absent a fundamentally new approach to redevelopment planning that places housing affordability at the center of the process, large-scale sustainable development projects are likely to become engines of what has been termed “environmental gentrification.”
Arts Build Community
CDCs now recognize that art and cultural activities can be useful tools toward building a community's identity, meaning, and spirit. But bank regulators have not yet reached a sufficient level of comfort with this new strategy.
Can Banksy Make New York City Affordable Again?
Earlier this month Shelterforce posted a conversation about gentrification that posed many different questions about the term and its role in community...
Forget NSP, Tax Credits Will Save Neighborhoods
If we want to revitalize neighborhoods, we must recognize that it’s a multiyear project. It should be an income tax credit program for three reasons:
Tenant Power: Organizing for Rent Strikes and Landlord Negotiations
In the face of high rent increases and substandard housing, many tenants are realizing they are not alone in their landlord troubles and are joining together to push for building-level wins, and policy change.
A Community Benefits Proposal Is Ignored. Is Displacement Far Behind?
Residents of four historically African-American neighborhoods in Atlanta are in the midst of an occupation of Turner Field—the former home of the Atlanta Braves.
Place Matters, But Place Changes
“Place matters, but place changes,” Univ. of Southern Calif. professor Manuel Pastor observed at the opening plenary at PolicyLink’s...
The Dangers of Being an “Armchair” Anything
The East Side Commercial Historic District is an enclave of historic structures representing a fascinating cross-section of Milwaukee’s eastern commercial development...
Can We Curb Crime by Cleaning the Corner?
As communities discuss reeling in their police departments, Flint, Michigan and Binghamton, New York have turned to another tool to reduce crime.
A Continued Sense of Place in the South Bronx
Last year, Shelterforce featured an article about preserving a sense of history in the South Bronx amid years of demolition and redevelopment. The article,...
3 Things for Nonprofits to Remember About Abandoned Properties
“'Do nothing' is not an option.”
So says Jerry Flach, construction project director at Paterson Habitat for Humanity, of the need to take action on...
An Urban School Reduces Violence . . . With Nonviolence
When students feel like they are in jail when at school and the adults around them consider them all potential...