October 2009
Habitat Gets Into Marin
Just three years ago, Marin county residents were busy raising money for a legal fight to stop Habitat for Humanity from building four homes affordable to families making under $56,000/year, saying it would “blight” their exclusive neighborhood of million dollar…
It’s Bankers Versus Realtors in Arizona: What About Communities?
In Arizona, the ever-shifting attempt to assign or avoid the pain of the foreclosure crisis has gone to court. Arizona’s laws had previously said that lenders had no recourse if a homeowner walked away from an underwater residential mortgagethey got…
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Is it: “Faster, Stimulus! Spend! Spend!” or “Think Before You Buy”?
James Oberstar, the Democrat from Minnesota who chairs the House Transportation Committee, has been sending out cranky letters to governors around the country who haven’t been spending their economic stimulus money fast enough on highway projects. Massachusetts and Virginia, which…
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Another Tired Argument Against ACORN
It’s not news in the most literal sense (you know, revelatory, fresh, etc.), but AP reports this week that conservatives are, once again, tacking even further into misguided waters, attacking CRA, blaming the victim for the housing crisis, and, of…
What Makes People Love a City?
The Knight Foundation, sponsor of Soul of the Community, a three-year study that asks people in 26 communities about their perceptions of their city when it comes to things like crime, schools, beauty, nightlife, and roads, has released some interesting…
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Foreclosure Mitigation Plans Need Work and Need Work Now
The Congressional Oversight Panel assembled a year ago when TARP was enacted in order to review the regulatory system and financial markets offered a sobering analysis last week on the state of the administration’s efforts to stem foreclosures. In short:…
Inspiring Revitalization in the Third World: Jamaica’s Rose Town
A great story is emerging in Rose Town, Jamaica, a community in the process of being reborn with the help of HRH the Prince of Wales and The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment. My very favorite writings since becoming…
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The “Real Threat” of ACORN
We’ve long said here that the right-wing attacks on ACORN are rooted in fear: fear of voter registration, fear of increased wages for working people, fear of empowering certain demographics, and so on. So it was good (well, not “good,”…
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If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now: A Cautionary TOD Tale
Everywhere we go we hear about transit-oriented development: bringing the home closer to the transit hub. Not only does TOD offer an opportunity to fix up areas near the rails, but it also provides a chance for localities to increase…
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IOC’s Rio Pick Could Be Good News for Chicago
My friend Hank Kalet offered a prescient look last week about the potential pitfalls of Chicago being awarded the 2016 Olympic games. The following day, the IOC sent Chicago packing in the first round of voting in a move that…
Bring Back Rent Control?
Yesterday NY1 tried to set up New York City’s mayoral race as an affordable housing vs. education spat, based on the candidates’ negative soundbites about each other. Although this is a bit of a stretch anyway (and not generally two…
National Housing Institute
