Who Owns That Vacant Building? Scan the Art to Find Out
In a brilliant mash up of classic protest/beautifying strategies and state-of-the-art data management, artists are painting murals on abandoned Baltimore buildings . . ....
596 Acres creates tools to help neighbors “Find the lot of their lives” by:
making municipal information about vacant public land available online through a searchable map and on the ground by placing signs that explain a lot’s...
Florida Flipper Nabbed in Cleveland
The head of a sham financial corporation was arrested late last year for illegally flipping hundreds of homes in several Ohio counties, including Cuyahoga...
A Community-Driven HIA
The healthy corridor for all HIA examined the effects of zoning decisions around a planned light rail line in the MinneapolisÐSt. Paul area (see...
The Six Steps to an HIA
A health impact assessment is a six-step, systematic approach to assessing the likely health consequences — good and bad — of a proposed action....
Detroit: Precise Associates
“When we try to stabilize neighborhoods, rather than being scattered in approach, we try to buy as many properties as possible in a given...
Chicago: Mercy Portfolio Services, a subsidiary of Mercy Housing
“How do we knit together the capacity, whether it’s the developer, lawyers, title companies, lenders, and define the deal so that we can move...
New Jersey: Community Asset Preservation Corporation
“One of the main challenges in preserving neighborhoods everywhere is figuring out how to better establish a permanent, durable, capital pool that is more...
Standing Up for the Future
On November 3, 2010, the day after the midterm elections, 30 leaders from PICO, including homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure, housing counselors and clergy,...
Is Rehab Greener?
New, efficient buildings can offer all sorts of energy, water, and other environmental savings — in addition to offering modern amenities desired by tenants....
Pianka’s Peers
While Pianka’s methods are unusual, he is not alone in exploring these sorts of remedies. Pianka often appears at national conferences with judges Larry...
Bank Fees of a Different Kind
A proposed bank accountability bill in California that had received considerable national attention has suffered something of a set back, but that doesn’t mean...
Housing Counseling in Crisis
In April, when the so-called budget compromise for continued FY2011 funding was reached, the entire $88 million HUD Housing Counseling budget was left in...
Fighting for the Trust Fund
When we reported earlier this year on the often-frustrating saga of finding a legislative home for the as yet unfunded National Housing Trust Fund...
Linked Deposits
In 2009, in Pittsburgh, a city much admired for its bank/CDC collaborations, the lender for a prominent mixed commercial/residential project was requiring new appraisals...
Inclusionary Housing: A Critical Step Toward Equity
By Patrick Maier
Inclusionary housing policies can harness the market in the name of equity. These policies, which require or incentivize the provision of affordable...
CLTs and Lease Purchase
A community land trust like Albany’s or City of Lakes CLT, retains ownership of the land under a house, which gives it an interest...
Shel Trapp, Organizer, NPA Founder, Dies at 75
Shel Trapp, along with NPA co-founder Gale Cincotta, was central to the passage of HMDA in 1975, as well as to the passage of...
The Disproportionate Impact of Foreclosures
Communities of color have always lagged far behind in homeownership, and foreclosures are making the situation worse. During the heyday of the subprime lending...
Why Was ShoreBank Allowed to Fail?
In August, when the FDIC seized ShoreBank of Chicago, it represented the demise of the oldest community development bank in the United States. The...