Don’t Go Back to Old Economic Development Ways
Cities have led the way in enacting equity-focused pandemic policies. It’s time to build on that momentum, starting with neighborhoods.
ADUs: Laws and Uses, Do’s and Don’ts
As ADUs gain national attention, cities are searching for the best ways to legalize their development and encourage construction.
The Supreme Denial of Integration
Despite the high court's recent blow to achieving classroom diversity, fair-housing practices can go a long way toward moving the country beyond racism.
NSP at Halftime
The federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program is a welcome source of funds in struggling communities, and it has had a massive effect on the nature of the response to the problem of vacant foreclosed property. As NSP3 gets underway and the NSP1 obligation period comes to a close, Shelterforce looks back at NSP so far.
Rethinking the Rescue
This time of economic uncertainty presents an opportunity for the community development movement to reinvent itself.
New York’s Property-Tax Cap: Pitting Homeowners against Children
A New York State commission established by Governor Eliot Spitzer recently recommended ways to lower property taxes, which are putting a world of hurt on homeowners. Fair enough. Some of the commission’s recommendations, like...
A Victory for American Democracy
Americans all over the nation, political pundits, Wall Street workers, and, I venture to guess, even the president, were stunned Monday afternoon to hear that the bailout bill had been defeated in the U.S....
The Financial Stability Plan
This morning, Treasury Secy. Timothy Geithner announced the Financial Stability Plan, geared to revive the banking system by way “attack our credit crisis on all fronts with our full arsenal of financial tools and...
Want to Help Homeowners? Replace the Mansion Subsidy
I don’t think for a second that The New York Times is in bed with the real estate industry. It has done some excellent reporting on the causes of the mortgage crisis and Wall...
Smart Choices Result in Balanced, Innovative Budget Proposal
The President’s FY14 budget represents a balanced approach to investment and deficit reduction. It recognizes the unique role that funding and tax programs play in creating and maintaining a...
The New HUD Secretary
After his swearing-in as HUD secretary, Mel Martinez vowed to address the needs of minorities, the elderly, and working families.
Time for a Job Guarantee
In various economic pundit conversations on Twitter, the new target of scorn is Universal Basic Income (UBI). Supporters of UBI (at least those who identify as being more left-leaning) posit it as a solution...
Despite Progress, States Have Work to do to Ensure Access to Affordable Rental Housing...
If expanding access to homeownership can reverse the trends of growing racial wealth inequality, why are we seeing so many states roll back the supports that make homeownership possible?
New York City Needs to Stop Negotiating Rezonings From an Uneven Playing Field
What is the underlying dynamic that leads so many council members in low-income communities of color to approve neighborhood rezonings, despite community opposition and the likelihood of increased displacement pressure on existing residents?
Hey YIMBYs, Thanks for Listening
The path to winning a pro-equity, pro-growth majority involves more (not less) investment in fighting displacement.
Help for Small Businesses
What kinds of emergency measures are advocacy organizations proposing to make sure that when small businesses can open again, they’ll be financially able to do so?
Fighting No-Fault Evictions with a Just Cause Ordinance
Despite a state-wide eviction moratorium, thousands of people have been evicted in Chicago since March. A coalition of housing advocates is proposing a just cause ordinance that would halt no-fault evictions.
Three Ways to Immediately Increase Transparency in the Housing Market
Transparency in housing transactions and in subsidized housing practices is a simple and powerful means of producing and sustaining movements for policy change.
How to Retrofit the Housing Economy
Are policy changes enough to address the housing problems we face?