Building a Better City: Europe’s Affordable Housing Standard
In the United States, nonprofit builders of affordable housing often compete against each other as well as against larger, better-capitalized private builders for limited low-income tax credits and other scarce […]
A Changed Block: Hillside Ave., Newark
When I decided to move to Newark a year ago my expectations weren’t all that high. I had heard and read about Newark’s poverty and downward economic spiral, the lack […]
CDCs in Gentrifying Neighborhoods
When community development corporations were created in the 1960s, their biggest challenge was assisting in the revival of neighborhoods that were physically and spiritually scarred by vacant land, abandoned buildings, […]
Real Solutions in Real Time
When a national or regional foundation initiative comes to a close, its grantees usually disperse and continue related work independently. Some may call on one another informally, but relatively few […]
Affordable in Name Only
At first glance the news of late has been good regarding fair and affordable housing in Illinois. In September Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the Comprehensive Housing Initiative, an executive order […]
One City
Visiting a big city for the first time can be overwhelming. Where to look first? And what experience is quintessential, without which you cannot say you truly were there? New […]
Shelter Shorts
Starting Small Brings Big Rewards In Michigan, some organizations are coming up with creative approaches to teach the value of a dollar – a dollar saved, that is. Share Our […]
Fundraising Tuesdays
It’s Tuesday morning and as I dash out the door, my husband hands me a box of new #2 pencils. Last Tuesday, he gave me three rolls of toilet paper […]
Making Progress in the Preservation of Affordable Housing
During the last six months of 2003, one could easily make the case that the nation’s entire domestic priorities were summed up in five words: “Prescription Drug Coverage for Seniors.” […]
From Brooklyn to Berlin: Organizing Schoeneweide
The scene looks familiar enough. In a foyer outside an elegant legislative chamber, a group of citizens is pigeonholing their local politicians. A vote on the annual budget is expected […]
The Fortress of Solitude
The Fortress of Solitude, by Jonathan Lethem. Doubleday. 2003. 528 pp. $26 (hardcover). When I first read excerpts from Jonathan Lethem’s The Fortress of Solitude in The New Yorker last […]