“Communities at Risk” Documents New Tactics to Save Neighborhoods
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A story that has not been fully told is the deep impacts foreclosures are having on America’s cities, triggering a spiral of abandonment, decay and municipal budget shortfalls.
A Living Cities report “Communities At Risk: How the Foreclosure Crisis Is Damaging Urban Areas and What is Being Done About It”—tells that story and also looks at what community groups and partnerships are doing in 10 cities to fight for their neighborhoods. Living Cities, a longstanding collaboration of 22 of the world’s leading foundations and financial institutions, funded those 10 projects last year as they forged new strategies at a critical moment.
The eye-opening report highlights:
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Becoming Landlords. 70 percent of the pilot programs are doing more rentals, many for the first time.
Scaling Back Rehabs. Two-thirds of the pilot programs are limiting rehabs, in a bid to save as many properties as possible with limited resources.
Backing Demolition. 70 percent of the program sites report they are including demolition in their neighborhood stabilization work.
Ben Hecht
Persistent news reports document that the foreclosure issue is far from over; and as unemployment deepens, the number of homes that will be lost is projected to grow. “Communities at Risk” lauds the solutions these groups are developing, but argues that the problems are too big for them to tackle alone. Ultimately, broad solutions will require both significant investment and major policy changes – from Wall Street to City Hall to the White House.
To access the report visit: http://www.livingcities.org/foreclosure.
Available for interview to discuss this Report: Ben Hecht, President & CEO, Living Cities
Contact:
Living Cities – Andrea Martone (917) 929-0527
amartone@livingcities.org
www.LivingCities.Org
