January 31, 2006
Criminalizing Homelessness
The National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty published a report in January, 2006, on trends in policies regarding homelessness.
Report: A Dream Denied: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities
class, economic development, urban design
August 26, 2005
CHP Paycheck to Paycheck
In this revised and updated version of its online, interactive database Paycheck to Paycheck, the Center for Housing Policy presents wage information for more than 60 occupations and home prices and rents for nearly 200 metropolitan areas. Paycheck to Paycheck utilizes consistent measures of wages and housing costs so you can:
- See how workers in your metropolitan area are faring in the housing market;
- View the big picture for housing affordability for working families in various occupations across the country; and
- Use these analyses as a template to examine wages and housing costs in neighborhoods in your community.
Data presented here are for the 1st Quarter of 2005.
New report paints brighter picture of Oakland
The study from the nonprofit Social Compact used tax assessor data, credit reports and other methods to estimate population and household incomes in four areas: Fruitvale, East Oakland, West Oakland and Lower San Antonio. When researchers compared their so-called drill down methodology with statistics based on census data, they found nearly 11,000 more residents, or nearly 7 percent more people, than official government estimates. Social Compact found an even greater disparity in aggregate income in the four neighborhoods, which had a total buying power of nearly $2.8 billion in 2004 -- 17 percent more than estimates based on a 2004 census trend projection.
New report paints brighter picture of Oakland
June 29, 2005
Article: Lessons from CANDO
This article examines the development – and eventual demise – of what was the largest municipal coalition of CBDOs in the United States. The Chicago Association of Neighborhood Development Organizations (CANDO) was a leading advocate for CBDOs involved in local neighborhood economic development.
The Power of Community-Based Development Coalition
June 28, 2005
Report: Tax Subsidies Help Low-Income Families Pay for Childcare
The Urban Insitute and the Brookings Insitution together as the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center researched possible reforms to the Child and Dependend Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), a federal income tax credit of up to 35% of child care costs. The program is neither refundable, nor indexed to inflation. It also does not truly aid low income families who may have no tax liability or who only receive a lower credit rate of 20%. As alternate examples, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) are either refundable or partially refundable and increase with family size.
The first section of the paper summarizes the tax treatment of child care under current law. The second section evaluates how child care should be taxed in an ideal tax system. The next section evaluates the effectiveness of current child care subsidies measured against those criteria, and discusses the effectiveness of recent expansions to the CDCTC. The fourth section examines options to reform the credit, while a fifth section examines expansions to the CTC and EITC as alternative options. The final section presents conclusions.
Tax Subsidies to Help Low-Income Families Pay for Childcare
June 20, 2005
Article: Brooklyn Immigration/Gentrification
Brooklyn's population is growing; housing prices are increasing; development projects are booming; and, the area is gentrifying...
After decades of disinvestment in Brooklyn, major projects are in the works, among them the development of 175 waterfront blocks, complete with 40-story luxury apartment buildings, along the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront; the construction of an 800,000-square-foot sports complex for the Nets in the Atlantic Yards; and, in Red Hook, the return of cruise ships, including the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth 2, to a major new pier and passenger terminal.
The Great Awakening of Brooklyn
June 09, 2005
Study: Living Wage in L.A.
This new study, co-authored by University of California economists David Fairris and David Runsten, along with Carolina Briones and Jessica Goodheart of the nonprofit Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, offers the most definitive analysis to date of a living wage law's impact on workers and employers. It provides important new insights on the effects of living wage policies, which have been adopted by more than 120 local governments around the country. The study was funded by the Ford Foundation, the University of California Institute for Industrial Relations, and the City of Los Angeles.
May 21, 2005
Article: The Vital Businesses of Immigrants
The concept of social capital has in recent times interested economic researchers as an explanatory factor for successful enterprise. As immigrant entrepreneurs as a rule find it more difficult to borrow from the bank than do the majority of the population, and for this reason are more dependent on social capital, this special case of enterprise ought to be a very productive object of study.
The Vital Businesses of Immigrants
May 02, 2005
SBE: Who's Minding the Store?
Larson, Rick and Real Enterprises, Inc., Who's Minding the Store? A Guide for Educators Working with School-based Enterprises: Activities and Strategies for Creating and Operating Innovative and Productive Learning Experiences, Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational Education, June 1995 (MDS-1254).
This guide is intended for use by educators who are working with school-based enterprises or contemplating the establishment of an SBE in their school. It seeks to help schools, students, and teachers develop enterprises that:
- place students in positions of responsibility for management and operations.
- provide an opportunity for students to learn entrepreneurial skills, group problem-solving, and effective decisionmaking.
- encourage creativity and innovation and help students learn a broad range of academic and career-oriented skills.
- provide an opportunity for students to learn about a number of aspects of the business, not just the specifics of a particular job within that business.
- operate responsibly from ethical, social, and economic perspectives.
- promote academic achievement.
National Center for Research in Vocational Education
Notes in the extended...
Continue reading "SBE: Who's Minding the Store?"
community and housing development, economic development, education