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Shelter Shorts
Redefining Community BenefitsWhen does a community benefits agreement (CBA) not benefit its community? When it is negotiated between elected officials and developers, says Sustainable...
Raising Hell and Raising Money, Too
An ally of my agency, the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV), told me about a conversation he once had with the...
Connecting Schools and Housing
For several decades community development corporations (CDCs) around the United States have been giving new life to urban neighborhoods by developing housing and other...
Ohio Fights Predatory Lenders
Politicians from both parties teamed up in Ohio in May to enact a predatory lending law that is arguably tougher than North Carolina’s, which...
Brokering Network
Several CDCs in the Memphis area have partnered with Seedco, the national economic development intermediary, to form a mortgage loan network. Members can either...
The Truth About Concentrated Poverty
Last summer, Hurricane Katrina rolled over the Gulf Coast and unearthed an unpleasant truth about the state of poverty in this country: concentrated poverty...
NIMBYites Lose One
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in June that affordable housing development can’t be stopped on the grounds it might hurt neighbors’ property values....
Rx for Tenants
Doctors and lawyers team up to help tenants stuck in housing that's bad for their health
Double Bottom Line
A Tacoma, Washington CDC is putting at least $250,000 into developing a “double bottom line” real estate fund that will invest in struggling neighborhoods...
Healthy Foods, Strong Communities
Fresh fruits and veggies are good for more than just your health.
S.F. Boosts Affordability
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law an inclusionary housing policy aimed at creating more affordable homes in the city. Fifteen percent...
The Prevailing Question
Should the people who build low-income housing get the prevailing wage? CDCs say they can't afford to pay it, but can they really fight poverty if they don't?
Storied Groups Close
The Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, a Chicago fair housing advocacy group with a small geographic range but a national impact, ended operations...
Thinking Collectively
In Boston, labor and community groups are using their shared values to collaborate and win victories
The Big Bond
Los Angeles is putting the largest municipal housing bond ever on its ballot this November. The $1 billion bond would pay for an estimated...
Can Progressives Deliver?
In key races around the country, progressive coalitions are mobilizing grassroots campaigns that just might pay off.
Redefining Community Benefits
When does a community benefits agreement (CBA) not benefit its community? When it is negotiated between elected officials and developers, says Sustainable South Bronx,...
Homeownership Rescue
Homeowners who can't afford their mortgages can turn to nonprofit housing organizations for help.
Ghetto Salvation
How the Other Half Worships, by Camilo Jose Vergara. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, 2005, 304 pp. $49.95 (clothbound).
Suppose an alien came to...