April 2010

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    How Immigrants Are Revitalizing America’s Fading Suburbs

    The Urbanophile, Aaron Renn, has an interesting new post about how American suburbs, particularly inner-ring suburbs, are being revitalized by immigrant populations. His focus is on his home region of Indianapolis, but the photos he presents and the stories he…

  • What You Need To Know About Financial Reform

    Is the public in favor of regulating Wall Street? A national survey conducted in March by the nonpartisan Pew Economic Policy Group found that 68 percent of the public have an unfavorable opinion of big banks. Two-thirds of the public…

  • Showdown on Wall Street and K Street

    The shake-out of the American economy has left a handful of large banks at the pinnacle of the corporate power structure. Next week, a coalition of major community organizations, unions, and religious groups will launch a campaign to challenge the…

  • Report Shows Growing Gap Between Income and Rent

    The gap between income and rent continues to widen, and despite a robust level of rental housing, there remains a dearth of housing that can be considered affordable, according to new data released yesterday by a prominent national housing advocacy…

  • Low Income Housing Group to Release New Housing Wage Data

    The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) will release its annual Out of Reach report at 11 a.m., ET, today. Speakers will release for 2010 the often-cited Housing Wage, which shows, for every state, metropolitan area and county in the…

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    Helping Johnny (and Joanie) Walk to School

    Aside from reduced CO2, less traffic time and health advantages, the most important benefit of walk to school programs is teaching children self-reliance. The quote comes from architect and urbanist Ann Daigle, who puts into practice all the things that…

  • Viewing Housing Within a Context

    Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry were honored this week with the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Edward W. Brooke III Housing Leadership Award. Kerry was not in attendance, but Ellison spoke about existing societal constraints that…

  • Bostic: HUD’s PD&R Was “Stagnant” In Recent Years

    We sat down with Raphael Bostic, HUD’s assistant secretary for Policy Development & Research in a substantive interview slated for publication in the Summer issue of Shelterforce, but people attending the National Low Income Housing Coalitions annual policy conference were…

  • Maintaining Tenant Input

    For hundreds of low-income housing advocates and residents, the annual National Low Income Housing Coalition conference is the one time when they get to convene, talk about policy, and have access to high-level agency representatives. But keeping those lines of…

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    First, Some Perspective

    HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan’s father and stepmother were in attendance today as he offered the luncheon remarks for the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2010 Annual Housing Policy Conference and he echoed an ethos at HUD that is ambitious, but…

  • In Supporting Financial Protection Bureau, Merkley Looks Back

    U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) addressed a largely supportive crowd and a roomful of renters, housing advocates, and practitioners today as he called for increased protections for consumers, including increased affordable housing opportunities. The senator spoke at the Congressional breakfast…

  • The Case for New Vouchers

    Bill Faith, of the Columbus, Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio praised the $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund in the Jobs for Main Street Act, but warned that “capital funding, on its own, doesn’t necessarily get…

  • Reporting From The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2010 Annual Housing Policy Conference

    Rooflines, the blog of the National Housing Institute will be reporting live from the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2010 Annual Housing Policy Conference. Highlights will include presentations from HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, NLIHC’s Sheila Crowley, and Mercedes Marquez, HUD’s…

  • Census 2010: Stand Up and Be Counted! (Or Not)

    Why all the paranoia about the 2010 Census? If you listened to the far right, the data collected from the census could result in a scene similarly portrayed in the Clash’s “Guns of Brixton,” with brown shirts kicking in your…