Data are clearly no longer the purview of academics and government officials writing research reports with five pages of text and one hundred appendixes.   This post focuses briefly on several amazing datasets that are available with detailed information for CED professionals, as well as a reminder … Read more

A recent Community and Economic Development blog post outlined the concept of Workforce Housing – housing affordable to households earning 60 – 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) – including the roots of workforce housing initiatives, and how macroeconomic trends have challenged the supply of hous … Read more

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies recently released their 30thAnniversary State of the Nation’s Housing Report, detailing new insight into the forces at work in the nation’s housing market, as well as challenges faced by local, state and federal government agencies in finding solutions to … Read more

North Carolina communities are undergoing rapid economic change at different rates in different parts of the state.  Issues such as affordable housing, appropriate rate levels for public services, costs of commuting and wage growth (or stagnation) are now key for CED officials, whether your communit … Read more

In many cities across the country, it is increasingly difficult for middle-income workers to buy or rent housing in the areas in which they work. This is in part due to wages not keeping up with increasing costs of living but is also due to the limited supply of housing affordable to these workers. … Read more

In January 2018, Government sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac completed its first financing deal as a part of its new single-family rental pilot program, which launched in December 2017. The goal of the pilot program is to provide millions of dollars of financing for landlords and nonprofits to … Read more

The Northside Neighborhood Initiative (NNI) is a collaborative effort among Northside residents, the Jackson Center, Self-Help, UNC, the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, as well as the area affordable housing agencies. Together, they work towards honoring the history of the Northside neighborhood … Read more

In previous CED posts, the definition and benefits and disadvantages of a revolving loan fund structure have been described. For review purposes, a revolving loan fund is often defined as a replenishing source of capital or funding from which loans are made. Some of these same posts describe this fi … Read more

It is no secret that the struggle to preserve affordable housing and increase economic growth is more challenging than ever. Subsidies are growing smaller and building costs are increasing, making affordable housing more difficult to develop. However, a federal program known as the Community Develop … Read more

For the past five months I served as a visiting scholar to the University of Ghent in Belgium.   The link between food insecurity, a particular focus on my work in North Carolina, and larger overall economic insecurity issues has been getting increased focus across a number of European countries. Be … Read more