Archives
A New Twist on Housing Policy
As a campaign issue in this 2004 election, housing distinguished itself by its absence. The war in Iraq, terrorism and the economy eclipsed any...
Tearing Down the Community
A year after she left Chicago’s notorious Robert Taylor Homes public housing development, 30-year-old Lee-Lee Henderson said she was ready to return. “I’d rather...
The Housing That Community Built
In 1993 President Bill Clinton visited Pittsburgh to promote the new HOPE VI program to residents of the Hill District. The program was developed...
Be It Ever So Humble
In the American idiom of good things, the importance of “home” and “community” cannot be challenged. The associated images – mom, apple pie and...
The Reality of Poverty Deconcentration
A “moral panic” over crime in central cities, combined with a demand for reform of the most troubled public housing developments, led to a profound shift in the late 1980s in how this country housed poor people.
Restoring the Commonwealth
Public housing is not a gift to those who cannot find shelter: it is an obligation of the commonwealth that asserts no person living...
Shelter Shorts
Rent Control Advocates Lose Again in Boston The long fight to bring some form of rent control back to Boston continued this winter, as...
Alabama Arise Fights For Tenant Protections
It was hardly an unusual story in 1993 in Montgomery, Alabama. A tenant had spent months trying to get her landlord to fix a...
Creative Fundraising
When Habitat for Humanity volunteers Lynne Blaesser and Mary Scott were approached by a Habitat executive about the prospect of leading Newark Women Build...
Paradise Lost
When Public Housing Was Paradise: Building Community in Chicago, by J.S. Fuerst. University of Illinois Press. 2004. 264 pp. $20 (paperback). When the...
Jesus “Jesse” Leon
The lyrics of an old Diana Ross song swirl around my mind when I think about Jesus “Jesse” Leon: “Reach out and touch somebody’s...
Housing, Politics and Moral Values
How long will it take for us to wise up? I would guess that almost all readers of Shelterforce feel very deeply that extensive...
The Lack of Support is Taxing
Well, the people have spoken and given George W. Bush a second term in the White House. Housing advocates should prepare for more of...
What Did We Learn and What Do We Do?
This was an election not so much about economic and social justice issues, but about values and culture. While economic security, health, education and...
We Must Rein in the Regulators
Following the presidential election, advocates working for economic justice are alarmed that ultra-conservatives in Congress will turn back the clock on access to credit,...