Community Development

At least some of a remarkable 49 percent drop in crime in a rough Pittsburgh is attributed to a new nonprofit-sponsored program designed to put slumlords out of business and get rid of their problem tenants.

April 21, 2015 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In a plot line of the documentary Gaining Ground, the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative fights to keep the lines of communication open with a large, partner nonprofit when a major conflict threatens their relationship.

November 18, 2014 - Rooflines

"We asked the question: How much higher would total earnings and economic output have been in 2012 if racial differences in income were eliminated"...

November 16, 2014 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Good design impacts tourism, jobs, property values and quality of life. What can we do to bring good design to small towns and rural communities? Here are a few good tips and inspiring examples.

September 8, 2014 - CommunityMatters

Now more than ever, creative professionals are turning their attention to community development. While this trend toward good design is exciting, it’s harder to find in rural areas. Here are a few ideas from the forefront of rural design.

August 14, 2014 - CommunityMatters

With the national Promise Zone grant initiative rolling out in Los Angeles, the Youth Policy Institute aims to deploy funds strategically in targeted areas that struggle with poverty.

May 13, 2014 - The Planning Report

Los Angeles County Planner Clement Lau examines how airline companies and other private sector businesses can help with the greening of communities.

April 27, 2014 - UrbDeZine

For far too long, the shaping of public spaces has been left to architects and urban planners, who plan from the top down. The most successful projects involve people directly in deciding how their public spaces will look, feel, and operate.

April 4, 2013 - Shelterforce Magazine

"Since the beginning of 2011, 180 bills restricting voting and voter registration have been introduced in 41 states. Over 70% of the electoral votes needed to win the 2012 Presidential election will come from states with new restrictive voting laws."

October 25, 2012 - Shelterforce Magazine

In a provocative essay, Mitchell Sutika Sipus examines the dangers of subscribing to conventions such as style or planning trends, and argues why planners must forgo ideologies to create better solutions for community problems.

October 20, 2012 - Humanitarian Space

Moving families from segregated, high poverty neighborhoods, into desegregated "areas of opportunity" has multiple effects. Housing mobility programs help revitalize communities and improve the physical and mental health of families involved.

September 6, 2012 - Shelterforce Magazine

Often times, the community development field and health philanthropy have worked in the same neighborhoods, but separately. This is changing, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Marjorie Paloma told Shelterforce how.

August 28, 2012 - Shelterforce Magazine

Sixty percent of premature deaths are accounted for not by medical care or lack thereof, but by social circumstances, environmental conditions, and behavioral patterns. So perhaps the medical field on its own can't prevent them.

August 2, 2012 - Shelterforce

A young artist in New Orleans launches a social experiment on the built environment, turning the walls of the city's buildings into a public forum.

June 24, 2012 - Next American City

Scattered-site rental management is something nonprofits have long found to be a challenge. But there are ways of pulling it off, and those who have done it tell Shelterforce how, and why it’s worth it.

June 9, 2012 - Shelterforce Magazine

As developers across the country increasingly recognize the market advantages of redevelopment oriented around transit, and property values rise in response, hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing are at risk.

February 5, 2012 - Shelterforce

A prophetic film from 1959 offers a diagnosis of the causes and emerging challenges associated with what came to be known as urban sprawl.

December 16, 2011 - ULI via You Tube

Go ahead, define sustainability.  Everyone knows countless, tangled and unconvincing definitions for this word which is quickly losing steam.  The problem is that we’re not sure about how sustainability relates to us except in planetary ways. We’re bombarded with many concepts that if we reduce this by 20%  then we’ll get that in 30 years which helps the earth survive. All’s well, except we’re almost numb because we won’t feel the aggregate effects for quite some time. Obviously, we’re an impatient lot. 

November 29, 2011 - Rick Abelson

I am writing this missive from the living room of a Starbucks. Not that you'd care where I'm writing from. Except this time it's relevant.  Here on Montana Avenue, in Santa Monica, I'm joined by other folks who are also on their laptops, recovering from yoga, or just biding their time. The guy sitting at my table just sold a pilot to Fox. That's nice for him. A few weeks ago I sat next to Hillary Swank here. She's not hurting either.   But others aren't so lucky. To its credit, Starbucks seems to want to do something about it.

October 18, 2011 - Josh Stephens

Detroit is the darling of the media.

September 21, 2011 - Barbara Knecht