Category: Placemaking
You Can Take It to the Bank: Federal Reserve System Resources for CED Professionals
We are awash in data on CED issues from annexation to zoning. What NC CED professionals need, however, is valid data based in reliable research, appropriate for their current questions, and relevant and applicable to North Carolina. This post outlines how NC CED practitioners can access this kind of … Read more
Local Conduit Issuances of Affordable Housing Bonds in North Carolina: The Basics
North Carolina suffers from a lack of affordable housing options for low and moderate income households. And as my colleague Tyler Mulligan has noted, the public sector cannot be expected to solve this problem without private sector capital and expertise. In a May 2022 post, Tyler outlined many of … Read more
How to Keep the Local Grocery Store Open: A Challenge for NC CED Professionals
Almost 15 years ago, a brief CED blog post highlighted several resources for supporting or attracting local grocery stores, especially ones in rural areas. Much more recently, a CED post highlighted the various ways CED professionals interact with food systems overall. This post brings North Caroli … Read more
The Primacy of Social Capital for Community Resilience
Hurricanes. Floods. Wildfires. Tornados. Earthquakes. Droughts. Blizzards. Ice storms. Infectious disease outbreaks. Pandemics. Industrial accidents. Chemical spills. Structural collapse. Transportation accidents. Grid failure. Water contamination. Large-scale layoffs. Factory closures. Recession. H … Read more
What’s Going On with ARP Infrastructure Investment in North Carolina?
A significant benefit of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) for North Carolina CED professionals is the availability of funding for investment in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure though the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRS). Where and how is that local govern … Read more
CED through Local and Regional Food Systems: The Latest Resources
In the past year, activity around local food systems increased dramatically. Government has been involved in supporting food systems for decades, but primarily through programs adopted at the federal level to both promote food production and protect the health of consumers. But having government wor … Read more
Revisiting the Community Land Trust: An Academic Literature Review
Housing costs and supply are dominating the news at the moment. Housing is the highest monthly bill typical Americans face, reaching an average of $1674 a month in 2021. Housing prices have increased far faster than incomes (Miller 2015), making affordable homeownership inaccessible for many aspiri … Read more
CED and Affordable Housing: How Does Manufactured Housing Fit In?
This headline from last week would naturally grab the attention of any CED professional: “Affordable mobile homes are disappearing in Asheville; code change could bring some back.” Housing is a basic issue for anyone interested in CED. Behind the headline are a host of issues that both foster hope i … Read more
What Makes Rural Art Parks Successful? Recommendations for CED Art Lovers
Using the arts as a community economic development (CED) strategy usually brings to mind urban settings. Recent examples include Cary, NC’s shimmer field featured this past winter and magical stick sculptures opened this spring. But over two million people currently live in rural North Carolina. … Read more
Local Government Support for Privately Owned Affordable Housing
By most accounts, the need for affordable housing across North Carolina is massive. According to 2019 census data, over a million North Carolina households are “cost burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Almost half of those are “severely cost burdened,” meaning the … Read more