
| Powerful Ideas, Practical Actions |
June 2012 |
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Cheaper Together: How Neighbors Invest in Community

How to keep rent affordable and homeownership in reach.

When housing is a commodity—bought and sold for profit—it’s nearly inevitable that people of modest means get priced out of the market. But that’s not the only way to own land. Read how a grassroots organization formed a community land trust (CLT) to build affordable homes in a rapidly gentrifying Albuquerque neighborhood. They’ve transformed 27 acres of vacant land into a thriving community, with the land trust ensuring affordable housing for future generations. It’s not a unique situation—there are 260 CLTs in the United States.
And the CLT model isn’t the only way to move real estate out of private, profit-hungry hands. New York City has 30,000 units of affordable housing owned as co-ops. An apartment complex in Washington, D.C., has affordable housing in a block where condominiums sell for half a million dollars.
It takes time, dedication, and start-up money to make these projects work. But the process builds community, and it fosters democratic, community-based control of land and housing. It’s happening across the country.
READ MORE ...
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Homes That Survived the Crash

Wall Street players used home finance to make megaprofits for the 1 percent—and millions of people lost their homes. Time to clean up the mess.

The key to a stable housing market? Keeping it local. Local financing, local ownership, local materials, and—most of all—connection to place. That’s a big change from the isolation of many suburbs. Once we make it, we’ll really be home.
READ MORE ...
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