September 2009

  • Rethinking Rentals

    With the rental population growing and the stock of affordable housing rentals in decline, “due to the demolition of older apartment buildings, the abandonment of foreclosed rental properties, and the conversion of rental units to sales condominiums,” John Kromer of…

  • What Is ACORN?

    By now, most Americans have heard of ACORN. We know them as the national anti-poverty group, which uses community organizing to provide invaluable services to our communities, pressure powerful banks to provide home ownership opportunities for working people, fight to…

  • ACORN and the Media

    You might have seen Peter Dreier, NHI board member, and the director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College on Rachel Maddow the other night discussing the coverage of ACORN in the media: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking…

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    Community Developer Wins Contentious Primary for NYC Council Seat

    Brad Lander, a not-for-profit director, affordable housing builder, city planner, and community organizer told the Brownstoner about why he chose to run for New York City Council. “I’ve worked with hundreds of residents, activists, and advocates with tremendous commitment, street…

  • Roasting a Fire Under ACORN

    It’s September here in the Northeast and the acorns falling from the oak trees, including those from the Northern Red Oak, New Jersey’s state tree, cause a messy, but welcome sign that cooler temperatures are here, and fall is on…

  • We All Need to Join In The President’s Fight To Overhaul The Financial Industry

    On Monday, as I entered Federal Hall on Wall Street to hear President Barack Obama’s speech, a huge crowd gathered outside the building hoping for a glimpse of the president Inside the hall I sat down with 150 Wall Street…

  • Sometimes Vacant Land is Just Fine

    I’ve been thinking a bit recently about the possibilities in vacant or underused property in the heart of the city. Kaid Benfield brought this topic up in his recent mention on Rooflines of how a Boston CDC showed movies on…

  • In Making Home Affordable, Banks that Helped Create the Foreclosure Crisis Continue to Profit

    In February, the Obama administration launched the Home Affordable Modification Program, an ambitious program that will use up to $75 billion dollars to prevent up to four million homeowners from going into foreclosure. The program works by underwriting some of…

  • NHC-led Task Force Eyes the Future of the Housing Finance System

    A task force led by the National Housing Conference this week released a set of “Ten Key Principles” for repairing the U.S. mortgage market and addressing soaring foreclosures. The task force was assembled to “provide recommendations that will affect consumers,…

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    Sustainable Revitalization For America’s Smaller Cities

    Andre Leroux, executive director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, believes that New England’s smaller cities hold the potential to absorb much development that could help save the region’s countryside from sprawl. But it will take some policy reforms to…

  • Van Jones: The Green House, Redux

    The Spring 2009 issue of Shelterforce ran a brief about Van Jones’ being named White House special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for the White House Council on Environmental Quality: the “Green Jobs Czar,” to use a more…

  • Labor Day, Chris Christie, and the Employee Free Choice Act

    It’s labor-day weekend so let’s think about unions, Republicans and politics. Unions are a potent reality check as well as a counterforce to the power of big business. Most union members don’t fall for free market propaganda and the myths…

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    Boston’s Asian CDC Creates Life and Affordability in Chinatown

    Every summer, Boston’s Asian Community Development Corporation has been hosting an informal grassroots Asian film festival in a vacant lot near the city’s Chinatown Gate. The final night this year was held in the nearby Chinatown Park. As has been…