Opinion

Changes in policy, economics, and needs force the community development field to move forward to meet today’s challenges.

Factoring in costs that tend to be lower in urban high-poverty neighborhoods, but not costs that tend to be higher there makes the H+T Index unsuitable as a tool for locating low-income housing.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as one of the lucky ones who actually had the day off to reflect on this great man’s legacy, I started thinking about […]

Despite current economic woes, families continue to aspire to own their own homes. For many, homeownership represents a path to stability, community, and long-term wealth building. But achieving these social and economic goals requires a new policy regime and regulatory framework that mitigates the inherent risks of the process. If done right — by matching buyers with appropriate mortgage products in a transparent and fair manner — we can make homeownership work for a broad range of American families, even those with low incomes and few resources.

When the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) passed earlier this year, I wrote that it had the potential to be the greatest poverty-fighting tool we’ve seen in […]

Opponents of Massachusetts’s “40B” affordable housing law are gearing up for another petition drive to repeal it.

With housing stability increasingly important for families under economic duress, additional rental funds could help to fund local housing authorities in order to assist families in need. New thinking could result in a plan aimed to help families get back into the mainstream, as well place them on a on a path toward increased personal wealth.

I was struck by two hugely contrasting stories in Sunday’s Real Estate section of The Washington Post. If you want evidence that John Edwards’s “two Americas” campaign theme had substance […]

I was struck by two hugely contrasting stories in Sunday’s Real Estate section of The Washington Post. If you want evidence that John Edwards’s “two Americas” campaign theme had substance […]

What an exciting time to be a D.C. resident. In this historic and wonderful week, the Obamas are moving not only to a new job but also to a new […]

An exciting new resource is available to community developers who want to make the streets in their neighborhoods more inviting to people on foot, on bikes or traveling by some […]

Angelo Mozilo, the Countrywide financial chairman who is arguably the poster child for the current subprime meltdown, just learned the difference between email reply and forward. A beleaguered Countrywide customer, […]