Helping Communities At Risk: Ideas for Urban Areas Affected by Foreclosures

Foreclosures are deeply impacting cities across the nation, triggering a spiral of abandonment, decay and municipal budget shortfalls.

A recent report from Living Cities, entitled “Communities At Risk: How the Foreclosure Crisis Is Damaging Urban Areas and What is Being Done About It,” takes a closer look at the severity of these issues and highlights pilot projects in 10 different cities across the U.S. aimed at tackling foreclosure-related challenges.

The report outlines:

• How the housing crisis in some cities has kicked off a cycle of plummeting real estate values, increasing crime and dwindling municipal revenues;
• The innovative tactics that these 10 pilot projects have developed to fight for their communities, including becoming landlords, scaling back rehabs and backing demolition; and
• What government, the private sector and others must do to rebuild neighborhoods riddled with foreclosures.

While the strategies featured in the report have helped address the needs of the foreclosure-ridden communities cited, Living Cities argues that broader solutions will require both significant investment and major policy changes – from Wall Street to City Hall to the White House.

Download the Report