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How to Kill Land Speculation

Tuesday, July 24, 2018
In This Issue: Chicago Activist Convention Focuses on Community Benefits ● Housing Nomadic Irish Travellers ● Seattle's Displacement Challenge ● How to Kill Land Speculation ● Also: Jobs ● Shelter Shorts ● Industry News +
Rick Rybeck, Just Economics LLC
Most communities are giving away 80 to 90 percent of the land value they create. Here's how they can fix that. Read Full Article
Shelterforce Staff
Serial Eviction Filings in Atlanta | Rent Control for Seniors | HUD Wants Examples of Housing Discrimination | Worker-Owned Cooperative Triples Workforce | More . . . Quick Takes From Our Editors
Tanner Howard, freelance writer
Residents of Chicago's North Side no longer need local leaders to bring in scarce city resources for new growth in their neighborhoods, so instead they are… Read Full Article
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Colleen Hennessy, freelance writer
Ireland struggles to adequately provide culturally appropriate housing for Travellers, an Irish ethnic minority group. As a nomadic culture, Travellers need… Read Full Article
Vinita Goyal, urban planner and independent researcher
Neighborhoods that overlap with historically redlined areas are experiencing severe cultural losses where displacement pressures disproportionately affect communities of color in Seattle. The city is using several strategies to address displacement, including… Read Full Article
Industry News
Dorian Warren Succeeds Deepak Bhargava as President of Center for Community Change | For the past two years, Warren has served as CCC vice president as well as president of Community Change Action. Prior to that, he served as an associate professor at Columbia University and as visiting faculty at University of Chicago. As CCC president, he will build on the 16-year legacy of outgoing president Deepak Bhargava, who has been a major force in the social justice landscape. Warren will take the helm immediately following the 2018 elections.
Robert Dean to Become New CEO of Center for Neighborhood Technology | From 2007-2017, Dean was deputy executive director at Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and created a follow-up program to assist communities in implementing the plan and addressing other issues, including climate resilience. Most recently, he has been serving as a consultant to Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council and RW Ventures, an economic development firm specializing in market-based inclusive growth. Dean succeeds Linda Young, who has been serving as acting executive director at the request of the board
Events

Thursday, July 26, 3 p.m. EDT | Opportunity Zones: Understanding the Potential | Connecting Communities, sponsored by the Federal Reserve System, offers this free webinar about the new Opportunity Zones tax incentive, which aims to drive long-term equity capital to distressed communities by providing tax benefits. Speakers will highlight emerging national and local strategies to engage residents around how these funds are deployed in their communities.
Wednesday, August 8, 2:30 p.m. EDT | CRA 101 Webinar | Since 1990, the Community Reinvestment Act has led to over $1 trillion in mortgages, small business loans, and economic development for underserved neighborhoods. Learn how the CRA process works, how you can influence how banks are serving your community, and how your organization can participate in NCRC's campaign to protect this crucially important legislation in light of recently proposed changes to the legislation.
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Opportunities
Advancing Health Equity Through Housing Funding Opportunity | This funding opportunity aims to support innovative, multi-sector solutions to housing instability that improve housing affordability and quality through policy and practice changes, generated by community residents. Planning grants of up to $100,000 and operating support grants of up to $200,000 per year for two years will be awarded. Submission deadline is August 13.
USDA Housing Preservation Grants | This program provides grants to sponsoring organizations for the repair or rehabilitation of housing owned or occupied by low- and very-low-income rural citizens. USDA will award a total of $10 million in Housing Preservation Grant Program funding for the repair and rehabilitation of rural housing units. Click here to learn more about who may apply, what areas are eligible, how funds may be used, and more. Application deadline is August 9.
Resources
Gehl Institute: Inclusive Healthy Places | Despite the growing evidence connecting place and health, there are few available resources to help planners and policymakers identify the evidence needed to make decisions and fund public space projects that promote individual and community health and well-being. To bridge these gaps, Gehl Institute, with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, developed the Inclusive Healthy Places Framework. Download the report here.
Family Centered Social Policy Report: The Racialized Cost of Banking, Fighting Work Requirements, and Supporting Democracy | This report discusses findings from an investigation into the racialized costs and fees associated with entry-level checking accounts from a sample of primarily small and community Main Street banks. Contradicting the wholesome stereotype of Main Street banks, balance requirements are higher and fee structures are more punishing among banks in black and Latinx communities than in majority white areas.
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You Said It!

I agree, but only if the housing built is affordable. The problem I see in my city is that elected leaders rely on the private sector to decide what is built. The result is… —Will Hathaway, more

The private sector could (sort of) solve this problem if there was no zoning to restrict supply. Mr. Hathaway’s post about “trickle down” housing policy probably refers to a city where the government allows a tiny bit more housing to be built and declares victory, rather than… —Michael Lewyn, more

The market can build its way out of today’s crisis, if we mean helping the type of folks who care about “housing policy” and read this (awesome) site. But fixing a housing system that is designed to financially exploit the working class for the benefit of wealthier Americans…the only way of doing that is… —Stephano Medina, more

There are six vacant houses in America for every one homeless person. That’s not a building problem. That’s an economic equality problem. Could we build our way out of the problem of affordable housing? Absolutely. Will we? It’s unlikely. Not when it’s cheaper to… —“Random Nobody,” more
Have you thought about forming a community land trust or cooperative and asking the city to give you the properties (or sell them for $1 each)? That way you could own the land and homes as a collective and begin to make improvements and… —Susan Moriarty, more

What's going on in Minneapolis? Last I heard, they passed a source-of-income anti-discrimination ordinance…the ordinance went into effect this past May, but it looks like a judge struck it down in June. Any thoughts how that will play out? —Rose Alexandra Phillips, more

Author Reply:
Hi Rose, with the caveat that I’m horrible at predicting the future, and I’m not familiar with Minnesota state courts, I would say that the judge’s decision is likely to be reversed on appeal. The judge’s decision is based on a weird constitutional theory that says… —Joe Mead, more

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Jobs
Executive Director, NCRC Community Development Fund ● NCRC Community Development Fund seeks a new executive director. In addition to managing the CDFI, the ED will guide the Fund’s expanding financing strategy, act as entrepreneurial leader and primary fundraiser, and be our public face at trainings, media events, and conferences of peer organizations... Read Full Listing
Senior Research Associate Local Initiatives Support Corporation seeks a Senior Research Associate to join a small, multidisciplinary team whose objectives are to rigorously assess our impact and those of our partners, support through research new innovative tools to advance LISC’s mission, and support the... Read Full Listing
Executive Director, Northcountry Cooperative Foundation This individual will manage all aspects of our operations and provide leadership toward our strategic goals: supporting the creation of more (and better) cooperatives, being a key source of information about cooperatives and a center for the practice of creative innovation in the cooperative sector... Read Full Listing
Director of Communications ● Grounded Solutions Network seeks a dynamic individual to join our senior leadership team. Your communication strategies will drive support for our financial sustainability strategy, deepen programmatic impact, and elevate our position as a national leader in long-term affordable housing… Read Full Listing
Chief Property Management Officer Community Development Partnership seeks a chief property management officer to lead the expansion of our affordable rental homes on the Lower Cape. The CDP nurtures a vibrant Lower Cape Cod region by promoting environmental and economic sustainability, expanding opportunities for… Read Full Listing
Senior Program Officer—Economic Development & Lending Rural LISC seeks an individual to lead our lending team and oversee the implementation of national and rural economic development strategies, with and through our network of rural CDCs and CDFIs, and key economic development focused team members. Rural LISC is in the top five in lending within... Read Full Listing
Program Officer—Lending Rural LISC seeks an individual to manage our rural lending opportunities via our network of rural CDCs and CDFIs, and Rural LISC’s Field Program team members. We maintain a diverse portfolio of loans in affordable housing, community facilities, and small business development... Read Full Listing
Executive Director ● Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk seeks a dynamic, passionate executive director for this 30-year-old affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International. Habitat Suffolk partners with families in our community to help them build strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter. Our new ED should be committed to... Read Full Listing
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