Written by Christopher Walker of the Urban Institute, this 69-page report takes a critical look at the ways in which community development corporations (which generally are nonprofit, community-controlled real estate development organizations) have assisted in the revitalization of poor communities around the United States. Funded by the National Community Development Initiative, Walker's analysis...

This report, written by Christopher Walker and Mark Weinheimer and published by the Urban Institute, demonstrates that since its inception in 1991, the National Community Development Initiative (NCDI) has had a significant impact on community development corporations (CDCs) in 23 large American cities. The 136-page report provides an overview of the NCDI and CDCs, an assessment of NCDI-funded...

American Communities is the Information Center of HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD). Formerly the HOME Information Center, American Communities (AMCOM) has been expanded to serve as a resource for all CPD programs and initiatives, including the Community Development Block Grant program; HOME Investment Partnership; homeless and Special Needs Assistance Programs;...

Published this month by the Department of Justice, this report assesses the results of the "weed and seed" approach to crime prevention, monitored for the last eight years at eight selected area sites in the U.S.. "Weeding" is defined as "concentrated and enhanced law enforcement efforts to identify, arrest, and prosecute" criminals, especially violent offenders and drug traffickers. The cited...

The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership works "to build local capacity" through a range of activities, including the creation of apps, outreach projects, and much more. Visitors can look over the Partnership’s Featured area to get a sense of its recent initiatives which include the creation of integrated data systems and neighborhood centers. The Activities area includes Issue Areas...

The Office of University Partnerships, founded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1994, is designed "to encourage and expand the efforts of higher education that are striving to make a difference in their communities through funding opportunities." Their online presence includes a number of helpful documents for persons interested in these relationships, including a recently...

How do we build community? How can we learn from each other? What does it mean to create a community responsive to the needs of its occupants? The Aspen Institute recently took on the challenge of thinking about such matters. In 2012, the Institute, along with the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, sponsored a conference on community building. The participants in this exercise included...

American cities have undergone a robust period of renaissance and rejuvenation as of late, but not all cities have been able to partake in this process. This vexing topic is the subject of a May 2007 report authored by Jennifer S. Vey for The Brookings Institution. This particular 84-page report is primarily concerned with examining older industrial cities in the Northeast and the Midwest, and the...

The Smart Growth America organization is a "coalition of national, state and local organizations working to improve the ways we plan and build the towns, cities and metro areas we call home." To work on these issues, they offer interested parties a wide range of helpful resources about their work, which includes planning for public transportation, sensible development plans, and maintaining open...

Located at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the Polis Center is an academic research center that focuses on urban and urban-related issues. Their goal is to "to develop knowledge that will serve the common good and invigorate the sense of community in this city and beyond." To this end, they have placed on the site a great deal of material about their numerous research...