Subject: Advocacy
"The old formula of buying and dying in your house is no longer the formula for many…The stigma of renting is no longer the case. When it comes to living the American dream, the overwhelming response (is) renting is just…
I think about Dunbar’s number when I hear people talk about community development needing to “scale-up.” In the early 1990s, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar made a series of observations and hypotheses about human brain capacity and Pleistocene social formations and…
-
Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the Obama administration’s rural housing budget continues trends that were evident in the last several budget requests. The guiding principle seems to be, as it is for “safety net” programs generally, reducing spending rather than meeting…
For low-income families that need affordable rental housing, the news from Washington in recent years has been bleak. Yet, while President Obama’s new budget has shortcomings, it achieves the important goal of holding the ground on housing assistance in a…
-
The President’s FY14 budget represents a balanced approach to investment and deficit reduction. It recognizes the unique role that funding and tax programs play in creating and maintaining a stable housing market. While proposing to cut the deficit by $1.8…
I must admit I was surprised to see Project Rebuild resurface in the Obama administration’s 2014 budget proposal. If there was ever an idea whose time had come and gone, it was that one, which got no traction when it…
-
President Obama’s budget lays out a strong starting point for rebuilding American opportunity. He preserves our historic commitment to protect the nation’s most vulnerable households, reverses some of the most harmful impacts of sequestration, and calls for a sensible, balanced…
-
Reaction to Obama's proposed FY 2014 is coming in fast and, in some cases, furious. We're seeing mixed feedback to his proposals, with some lauding the benefits of compromise while others have despaired of Obama's offering of cuts to earned…
-
Obama’s mortgage interest deduction (MID) reform falls short of the mark. Housing advocates have been holding their breath for Obama’s new budget, expecting significant changes to housing and community development funding. One expectation was changes to the mortgage interest deduction,…
Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from a range of stakeholders about how they feel President Obama's proposed $3.8 trillion budget will effect the nation. One group that has already chimed in is the Trust for Public Land (TPL), which…
Rosanne Haggerty’s recent post, "What if We Don’t Knock it Down? Re-Imagining Public Housing," pushes us to think broadly about the ways in which public housing can be financed and made more functional in difficult times. There is great potential…
The aftermath of October's Hurricane Sandy brought attention from the nation to New York and New Jersey where the superstorm caused devastation to homes and lives and shut down livelihoods for many. Organizations from both states are now fighting to…
During his recent visit to Miami, President Obama praised Public Private Partnerships ("P3s") and lifted up the idea of a national infrastructure bank. While most Americans support the idea of building a sustainable economy and fixing decaying infrastructure, building up…
The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking voted on March 19 along party lines (12 Democrats and ten Republicans) to advance Richard Cordray’s bid to serve a full term as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Since Cordray accepted…
A lot is going on at the federal level right now. The sequester that we never thought would happen in the fiscal year 2013 budget, has. On the average, 5% cuts across the board from most housing and community development…
The New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) plan to build mixed income housing on some of its properties has prompted both admiration and suspicion. It also raises the question of what new ideas and approaches are needed to guide the…
"Show me what democracy looks like!" is a favorite chant at grassroots rallies and progressive gatherings; and now Congress has an opportunity to do just that—to show all of us what democracy can look like for the 11 million undocumented…
Do you want to share housing expenses with more than two of your friends? Create a separate apartment within your home for your aging parent? Build small studio apartments or shared housing arrangements? In most places in the United States…
Along with the usual New Year’s resolutions about exercising, getting more sleep, and being more patient with the kids, progressives should add better communications to their list. We have a historic opportunity to frame the public debate this year in…
Shortly after President Obama’s second inaugural address calling for collective action on our greatest national challenges, I happened to speak with someone curious about Community Solutions' work in two high poverty neighborhoods. I explained that the Brownsville Partnership in New…
Next »
National Housing Institute
