Former major league baseball player Maurice Vaughn has made a new new career of buying, then rehabilitating public housing projects. The Times describes Mo's life and transformation as well as that of his six-year-old company, Omni New York LLC.
"Mr. Vaughn, a (42-year-old) star slugger for the Boston Red Sox who quit baseball in 2003 after a lackluster run with the Mets, decided to build what he called his "afterlife" from the ashes of his baseball career."
The Times chronicles the start of his business, teaming up with his attorney and a low-income housing expert. In 2004, the three purchased two deteriorating projects near foreclosure that the City wanted to unload.
"Omni New York LLC is on its way to becoming a major player in the low-income housing world. It has acquired 4,000 apartments, most of them in New York State's scrappiest neighborhoods, housing the poorest of tenants (98 percent of them qualify for Section 8 rent subsidies). It has bought and rehabilitated 23 sites in New York, Massachusetts and Wyoming for a total of $503 million."
FULL STORY: Power Player

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

Montreal’s Gorilla Park Repurposes Defunct Railway Track
The park is part of a global movement to build public spaces that connect neighbors and work with local elements to serve as key parts of a city’s green infrastructure.

Art in Action: USC Event Calls for an Urgent Green Energy Transition
The El Respiro / Respire event at USC uses a large-scale human geochoreography to demand an urgent and equitable transition to green energy, blending art, activism, and community engagement to amplify the message of climate justice.

Safe Parking Programs Help People Access Housing
The safety and stability offered by Safe Parking sites have helped 40 percent of unhoused San Diego residents who accessed these programs get into permanent housing.

Study: Single-Staircase Buildings Pose No Additional Risks
Zoning codes have long prohibited single-stair residential buildings due to safety concerns, but changing that could lower the cost of construction and allow for more flexible housing designs.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA)
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research