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

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

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

Investing in green space and park creation has enormous benefits, from bolstering community wellness, to reversing historic disinvestment, and in raising surrounding property values. While care should be taken to avoid the park-driven gentrification that has accompanied many of the recent high-profi … Read more

Community and economic development has increasingly required participation from community members to be effective. Ensuring high levels of engagement throughout the design process is crucial to producing a product that serves the needs of the community. A creative approach to problem solving might b … Read more

Common interest communities and homeowners associations (HOAs) – love them or leave them, they have become quite common. The Foundation for Community Association Research, which supports the Community Associations Institute, found that 61 percent of new housing built for sale is located within a com … Read more

Income inequality is not a new issue for CED professionals. In November 2011, the Federal Reserve Board of San Francisco devoted an issue of its publication, Community Investments,to how income inequality was impacting community development. A Federal Reserve Board governor is quoted in the report, … 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

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

Of the many challenges in community revitalization, determining how to allocate limited funds is often at the top of the list. Should the dollars be split evenly by focusing on the very worst neighborhoods? Or should there be a form of targeting or some sort of custom-tailored solution? If the latte … Read more