E-Newsletter | September 2006
Dear Colleague,
Welcome to our latest www.Community-Wealth.org
e-newsletter. Once again, we have added dozens of new links, articles,
reports, and other materials to the site. Look for this symbol *NEW*
to find the most recent additions. We also have added two new categories
to the “Strategies
and Models” section.
- Reclaiming
the Commons - In the past decade, efforts to “reclaim
the commons” — that is, create a sphere of economic
activity that benefits the public by creating common rights—
has gained increasing prominence in a number of areas, including
the digital realm (“information commons”), environmental
and natural resource protection, and the promotion of public spaces.
This section highlights these innovative efforts to establish
and protect a broad sphere of public assets.
- Transit-Oriented
Development - Integrating public transportation with community
development has become increasingly critical for both transit
agencies and communities. Done well, transit-oriented development
can help boost transit systems both by increasing ridership and
providing lease revenues to cities and transit agencies, while
supporting communities by ensuring easy access to jobs and needed
services. This section provides an overview of TOD efforts nationwide.
This month, our updated
home page features the fifth in a continuing series of profiles
of Community
Wealth-Building Cities. The citizens of San
Jose, California have implemented a wide variety of methods
to build community wealth, including a broad range of community
development efforts, co-ops, employee-owned companies, and university-community
partnerships.
Once again, many thanks to all of you who send us material to post.
Your contributions enable us to keep expanding the site and to better
link community wealth-builders around the nation.
 Ted
Howard
Executive Director, The Democracy Collaborative
 National
Survey Finds CDC Housing Production Tops 1 Million Mark
The first industry-wide survey of community development corporations
in seven years shows continuing CDC movement growth. Among the findings,
as of the end of 2004, CDCs had produced 1,252,000 homes and apartments,
up from 650,000 through 1997; developed 126 million square feet
of commercial and industrial space, up from 65 million square feet
through 1997; created 774,000 jobs, up from 247,000 through 1997;
and increased their ranks to 4,600 as compared with 3,600 in 1997.
Another important finding: the percentage of CDCs with ownership
interest in neighborhood business increased from 31 percent in 1998
to 45 percent in 2005.
report-ncced.pdf (712KB)
 Valuing
the Wealth of Neighborhoods
In the premiere issue of the new journal Democracy, Gar Alperovitz,
the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University
of Maryland and a founding principal of The Democracy Collaborative,
examines the role community wealth strategies might play in developing
a more equitable distribution of assets in U.S. society. While the
“ownership society” advocated by the Bush administration
has effectively reinforced existing inequality, Alperovitz finds
that the basis for an alternative and more equitable, progressive
ownership society, based on the proliferation of community wealth
building institutions, is already taking shape at the grassroots.
article-alperovitz.pdf (124KB)
 Rebuilding
Economies through Local Ownership
Contrary to popular belief, many small, locally owned businesses
actually out-perform their “big box” and Fortune 500
competition. In this new book, social entrepreneur and author Michael
Shuman details dozens of specific strategies small and home-based
businesses are using to successfully out-compete the world's
largest companies. And it shows how consumers, investors, policymakers,
and organizers can effectively revitalize their own communities
by supporting local businesses.
For more information, see www.smallmart.org.
City
of Portland, Oregon Invests in “Green” Building
Portland's South Waterfront project, built on a decaying industrial
site south of downtown, signals a watershed in a national green-building
boom. Nationally, six percent of all residential construction this
year is expected to meet national green building standards, up from
less than one percent six years ago. Portland, well known for its
leadership in smart growth and transit-oriented development, is
leading the way again. To support the effort, the city is paying
15% of the cost to build a $57 million tram to serve Waterfront
tenants. By doing so, the City has leveraged a privately financed
transit-oriented/green building project that will cost $2.2 billion.
article-ritter (96KB)
Study
Documents High Cost of Predatory Lending
According to a July 2006 Brookings report, 4.2 million lower-income
homeowners paid higher than average prices for their mortgages in
2004, while 4.5 million lower-income households paid higher than
average rates for auto loans. And at least 1.6 million pay excessive
fees for furniture or appliances. Reducing the costs of living for
lower income families by just one percent would give these families
$6.5 billion in added spending power, speaking to the vital importance
for more concerted policy effort to reduce predatory lending, writes
Brookings Fellow Matt Fellowes.
report-fellowes.pdf (5.6MB)
San
Diego Uses Community Ownership Model to Spur Development
Neighbors of the 10-acre Market Creek Plaza shopping center in southeast
San Diego are being offered an equity stake in a new enterprise.
The Jacobs Foundation, which developed the shopping center with
the support and participation of area residents, has created an
investment plan that gives nearby residents up to a 20 percent stake
in the enterprise – with the goal of transferring complete
ownership and control within 12 years. Ownership “units”
in the shopping center will be available to a maximum of 450 people
who live, work, volunteer, or own a business in area. Potential
investors will be required to buy at least 20 shares at $10 apiece
and must demonstrate that they have contributed in some way to the
overall health of the community.
article-green.pdf (72KB)
Building
Savings through Payroll Deductions
To rebuild the U.S. savings rate (which fell below zero in 2005
for the first time since the Great Depression), Reid Cramer of the
New America Foundation has drafted a proposal to create an automatic
payroll deduction system for savings (with the ability to opt out),
to be invested in index funds that would allow ordinary Americans
to earn reasonable returns without having to become financial experts.
According to Cramer, not only would this boost the U.S. savings
rate, but could reduce the need for lower income Americans to access
predatory lending to meet emergency needs.
paper-cramer.pdf (228KB)
Group
Aims to Launch Community Development Guarantee Company in 2007
Founded in 1998 and modeled after “Doctors Without Borders,”
the nonprofit Wall Street Without Walls provides pro bono assistance
to nonprofit community development groups to help them access capital
markets. In 2007, the group aims to launch its next big effort,
a community development financial guarantee company that could underwrite
projects, thereby lowering the cost of borrowing.
article-dubb-wsww.pdf (92KB)
Hundreds
Gather to Promote Employee Ownership
 About
700 people gathered at the annual conference of the ESOP Association
conference held May 17-18, 2006, in Washington, D.C. Highlights
included presentations by the CEOs of Acadian Ambulance of Louisiana
and Brookshire Brothers of Texas, two employee-owned businesses
that found themselves in the middle of hurricane zones in 2005.
Acadian is widely hailed for its adroit evacuation of New Orleans
hospitals flooded by Hurricane Katrina, while Brookshire Brothers
retail outlets played an important role in community rebuilding
in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita.
article-dubb-ea.pdf (84KB)
Forum
Identifies Rural Community Development Policy Priorities
Founded in 2001, the National Rural Funders Collaborative work to
build the field of rural practice, policy, and philanthropy, and
to leverage more than $100 million in new or untapped resources
to support and strengthen rural communities and families facing
persistent poverty. NRFC recently held a gathering of funders, academics,
and practitioners to assess the progress of the collaborative at
the halfway point of its 10-year effort.
article-dubb-nrfc.pdf (88KB)
Community
Energy Cooperative
 The
Community Energy Cooperative is a Chicago-based non-profit membership
organization helping consumers and communities obtain the information
and services they need to control energy costs. The Cooperative
was founded in January 2000 by the Center for Neighborhood Technology.
www.energycooperative.org
Center for Urban
Research and Learning (CURL), Loyola University
The Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) of Loyola University
Chicago acts as an important community resource, linking the research
of Loyola faculty and students to the needs of community and nonprofit
organizations, civic groups, and Chicago government agencies. Recent
reports issued by CURL include a report on domestic violence, a
study of gentrification, and an assessment of the legacy of Chicago's
first African American mayor, Harold Washington.
www.luc.edu/curl
Native American
Bank
 Native
American Bank was founded in 2001, organized by a group of Tribal
Nations and Alaska Native Corporations. With a mission statement
of "Pooling Indian Economic Resources to Increase Indian Economic
Independence," the Bank aims to (1) be a powerful engine for
Indian economic development, (2) establish a significant Indian
presence in the financial marketplace, and (3) project the growing
economic power of tribes and Indian businesses onto the national
scene.
www.nabna.com
Cooperative Home
Care Associates
 Founded
in 1985 to provide quality home care at living wages in the South
Bronx of New York, Cooperative Home Care Association now anchors
a national cooperative network yielding over $60 million a year
in revenue and employing more than 1,600, making it the largest
worker cooperative in the United States.
www.chcany.org
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