Smart Communities

Hip, Hip, Hippy

As I learn more about the importance of childhood learning and positive environments to long-term brain development, I am struck by the good work that is happening around the country. One program is the HIPPY program that equips parents with the information, materials, and skills that they need to help their children succeed in school. This is a great concept and one that has evaluation data to back it up. Parents or caregivers are critical links in the learning process. The more that we can invest in them and they in turn invest in their children, the better for all. Some people come to the parenting role with fewer skills than others but are willing and able to learn. This program givens them an opportunity. Check it out in your state.

Getting Low-income Buyers in Homes

I missed our conversations last week. I was traveling and as it turned out not near a computer every day. 

A topic that has been in the news constantly is the home mortgage crisis. There is a subtle and not-so-subtle suggestion that it is really all those people who knew they couldn't afford a home that caused all our problems. Left out of the conversation is the greed and dishonesty of many. No matter who or what you think caused this disaster, we cannot I repeat cannot forget the importance of home ownership. I am not suggesting that we give loans to people who cannot repay them but I am suggesting that we figure out a way to get people with lower incomes into housing. Housing is the one way that families and individuals can build wealth. It is critical that we be cautious but not stymied in developing new housing polices. It sounds as if the new HUD Secretary Shaun Donavan has just this idea in mind.

Dropouts: Same Story--Different Verse

Yesterday I joined our board chair, Alma Powell, and over 500 people at the Alabama Dropout Summit. It included people from across the community spectrum concerned about this crisis in our country. Mrs. Powell talked about the work of America's Promise in this area, I talked about our Learning to Finish Campaign, and another speaker, Shelly Stewart, who talked about his life story and his passion for reading and learning. He has created the Choice bus to show young people the dangers of dropping out. I don't want to steal the punch line but he connects dropping out of high school to prison in a powerful way. The new research coming out about dropout prevention and what is needed is powerful. The Southern Education Foundation has done some terrific work on the issue in southern states that is well work a read. More about this next week.

Affordable Housing at the Federal Level

Demand is likely to get higher for affordable housing. In many places, the line was pretty long already. Your community should know about the federal programs as well as local and state as you think about the future of housing in your community. What encouraged me so much about the Boston plan that I discussed yesterday is that communities are moving forward on their plans. But for everyone like Boston that is bucking the economy another project bites the dust. We cannot ignore the importance of housing in these times no matter how scared we are. People need safe, affordable housing. Children need places to play and secure living space. New York City has a great web site that could be a model for your community. Take a look.

Housing for the Homeless in Boston

Despite the stock market, bond ratings, and personal downturns, things still need to be fixed in our country. The stimulus package will help some but won't be nearly enough. The question for communities is what and how much will they do while the going is tough. Mayor Tom Menino of Boston says we are moving forward on the housing front. The city just launched a new plan to build 6,000 units of affordable housing for working families. He has a plan--even now. Three years ago he had a plan to get homeless seniors into housing. He is just 21 people shy of finishing that job. All big cities have housing issues of one kind or another. We cannot take our eye off that ball now. Quite the contrary now is the time to take advantage of construction availability and move forward. Tom Menino has always been a mayor with a vision. When we did our Solutions for America program back in 2001, Boston Main Streets--one of his signature projects was among the 19 we featured. Mayors and city councils take note: we cannot stop the march toward accessible housing for the homeless.

Fixing Housing

This week we will focus on the housing crisis. It is a complicated mess of bad mortgages, bad loans, and greed and irresponsibility thrown in to complete the package. While home ownership is and should continue to be a goal for all Americans, we missed the mark over the last decade. According to Robert Samuelson, one of my favorite economists, we may still be missing the mark. In his column this morning he writes that housing is the most affordable that it has been since 1970 yet we have too much supply and not enough demand. Part of the problem is the lending freeze but he believes that the President should do something to encourage people to buy--namely a tax break if you buy a house. Granted the new stimulus package offers a tax break for first-time buyers but according to Samuelson this is not enough.

I think he is on to something. While some would argue that prospective buyers are likely to buy anyway so why give them an extra bonus, Samuelson thinks that moving the buying along will stimulate the whole industry in a way that will be well worth the investment. For me, this is no different than a department store offering a 20 percent off coupon. Why not? So what if they were going to buy anyway. Getting the housing market moving again will be a big step in our recovery. Let's do what it takes to take that step.

Here are a few answers on ways that the stimulus will help new home buyers from Michelle Singletary.