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Economic Development

Economic activity is a crucial part of a healthy community, whether it’s access to quality jobs for residents, business support, or a functioning, diverse range of retail options.

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On a lawn in front of a brick building with large glass panels that look as if they might have been garage bays at one point, stands a welcome sign made of mosaic tile. The underlying structure is invisible but may be concrete and forms a boxy semi-circle with a peak. The mosaic tiles are small and spell out "Welcome to Binghampton" in varied colors on a background of tiny black tiles. There are two stars over the letters B and I, and near the bottom is a band of freeform mosaics depicting faces. They're very small and hard to discern individually.

Memphis Is Shrinking. Here’s Why We Need to Change That

Memphis is struggling with a dwindling population, driven in part by a high crime rate and disinvestment in low-income areas of the city. What are local organizations doing to turn this around?

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A graphic for Shelterforce's "Meet Me at the Intersection of Housing."
Affordability

Meet Me at the Intersection of Housing, with Guest Dawn Kelly

Dawn Kelly, founder of the New York-based healthy food and beverage restaurant The Nourish Spot, chats with Shelterforce’s Schlonn Hawkins about the connection between entrepreneurship, housing, building communities, and more.

A Black woman, wearing a white scarf and black robe and holding a microphone, speaks inside a room. Sitting are four people listening, and others are standing in the back.
Equity

Preparing Underinvested Communities for New Funding

Underinvested communities are at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting and deploying funding. The Center for Community Investment is helping to change that.

A dark-skinned woman in a red blouse stands holding a mic and looking at a screen on which is projected "What are TIFs?" with several bullet points beneath in much smaller type. Behind her is a curtain, and in the corner a table and chair with some meeting materials on them. The audience she is speaking to is not visible.
Policy

Tax Increment Financing (TIF): Revitalization Tool, Developer Handout … or Both?

Tax increment financing attracts development in disinvested areas, but it also diverts millions of tax revenue away from city services to investors. And some claim officials are using the program in racist and corrupt ways. What is TIF? And how does it work?

A broadly smiling woman with dark skin and braids, wearing a black shirt with a green-leaf logo on it, stands in front of a medium-blue wall. A business name, The Olive Street Agency, with the green-leaf logo, is printed (or affixed) to the wall in white capital letters.
CDFIs

CDFIs Shouldn’t Act Like Banks, But Too Often Do

When receiving bank funding, CDFIs often limit their investments in accordance with bank restrictions. How can reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act help center the needs of underserved communities?

A two-story magenta building is sandwiched between two larger apartment buildings at dusk.
Arts & Culture

Philanthropy Has Been Trying to Buy Buildings for the Arts for Years. Now We Know It Works.

San Francisco’s CounterPulse shows how arts organizations can take advantage of a lease-to-own model.

A row of New York Police Dept. cars lined up, half on the sidewalk, half in the gutter. At least 7 cars can be counted. Cars are white with blue lettering. At left, a woman is walking in the road past the cars.
Community Land Trusts

New Yorkers Need Land. The NYPD Is Sitting On Nearly 150 Lots.

A new map reveals how much land in New York City is being wasted by city police—often sitting vacant, rather than serving the public good.

A pair of "Groucho Marx" glasses resting on a raspberry-colored table.

Land Owned by LLCs More Likely to Be Vacant

NYC’s land speculators use LLCs to evade legal responsibility while sitting on vacant property.

Aerial view of the KeyBank building at night. Windows in it and nearby buildings are lighted.
Equity

NCRC Claims KeyBank Broke Promises, Failed Black Homeowners

Who is responsible for evaluating whether groups adhere to promises made in a community benefits agreement (CBA)? Is there any recourse for those who don’t get what they were promised? And what lessons can we take away from the KeyBank CBA?

Equity

Residents Owning Their Local Economy

In the face of extractive “investments,” communities are exploring creative models that let them both exert control and earn returns themselves.

A large affordable housing development with a large mural that includes Black musicians on the front wall.
Community Control

Two Paths to Density: Profit vs People

As communities across the country begin promoting density to address the affordable housing crisis, they must grapple with how that housing will be built, and for whom.

Family skating at Akoma market.
Arts & Culture

‘We-Making’: How Arts and Culture Build Social Cohesion

In Oakland, the Black Cultural Zone ties together art and community ownership to prevent gentrification and heal trauma.

A rendering of what Port Covington would look like once the decades-long project is completed.
Uncategorized

Which Community Benefits Agreements Really Delivered?

Are the neighborhoods impacted by large development getting the jobs and affordable housing they were promised? Shelterforce looks back at several cities where community benefits agreements were won to find out where those agreements now stand.