Conrad Egan
What do Saul Alinsky, Students for a Democratic Society, HUD, and the Housing and Community Development Department of Fairfax County, Virginia, have in common?
Conrad...
HAMP Is Not Enough
The federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program has a lot of mass appeal. But banks have been slow to act and HAMP was never intended to be the sole solution to the foreclosure crisis. HAMP needs backup.
CHA Back in Charge
After 23 years, the Chicago housing authority is no longer in receivership. The court-ordered receivership had placed administrative duties in the hands of a...
Interview with HUD Secretary Julian Castro
Shelterforce got a chance to speak with Secretary Julian Castro about some of the current ways in which he’s working to make HUD a force for good in people’s lives, and what steps there are left to be taken.
Does Public Housing Have a Future?
Everybody hates public housing, except the low-income people who live there and the people on the long waiting lists to get in. After years of neglect, the Obama administration wants to save public housing for future generations. Let's let them.
What’s in Store for PETRA?
At the time it was unveiled last year, the Obama administration’s Preservation, Enhancement and Transformation of Rental Assistance Act, or PETRA (see SF, Summer...
You Don’t Have to Go Home — You Just Can’t Stay Here
The wags at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — a.k.a the U.S. immigration agency — launched a pilot program last week that would allow...
Why the Presidential Race Ignores Urban America
Despite overwhelming media coverage, the 2016 presidential race has ignored the housing and economic crises impacting urban America.
Neither Bernie Sanders nor Hillary Clinton has...
Think Globally, Act Regionally
Several other Rooflines bloggers have speculated about the impact of a new emphasis on metropolitan areas coming from the federal level. This past Friday,...
Dragged Down by Regs
For an "emergency" measure, NSP came so loaded with ever-shifting regulations and restrictions it was hard to get any money out the door. It's getting better, but more could be done.
Senator Kennedy’s Awful Diagnosis
Oof—Bad sucker punch from the cosmos on Tuesday.
We all saw the worrisome weekend news about Senator Edward Kennedy’s seizure, but it was followed by...
Shiller’s “Continuous-Workout Mortgages” Won’t Address the Crux of the Problem
Robert Shiller in an article in The New York Times
proposed a more flexible home mortgage that he argues would help prevent crises...
Showdown on Wall Street and K Street
The shake-out of the American economy has left a handful of large banks at the pinnacle of the corporate power structure. Next week, a...
Election 2012: All Over But The Governing
The signs are off the lawns, checkbooks have closed (for now anyway), the president and Congress are back to full-time...
Unfriend Your Neighbor to Get a Loan?
Want to be that one person who bootstraps themselves out of poverty and makes it, against all odds? Not...
CFPB: Government for the People
Those of us who work in regulated industries, such as banking institutions and credit unions, often succumb to the temptation to see government regulators...
Which Agencies Should Pay to End Family Homelessness?
When families have stable housing, the benefits are widespread. And perhaps that has been the problem.
California’s Endless Housing “Crisis”
In many ways, the recognition of the current “crisis” stems from middle- and upper-income Californians finally being impacted, and using their power to push for solutions that would address their situation. But their solutions ignore another population.
Speaking Up On Race, Housing, and Opportunity in Minnesota
In the housing world, narrative plays an important role in defining whose voice gets heard, how issues are framed, and what solutions are developed. This is especially true in Minnesota.
Nicolas P. Retsinas
Nicolas P. Retsinas, a senior lecturer in real estate at the Harvard Business School and director emeritus of Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, talks with Shelterforce about his long service in the housing field.