HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau released the results of the 2007 national American Housing Survey this past fall. The survey data represent the most current information about the U.S. housing supply. We'll look at this updated profile of American housing, noting the types, locations, and tenure of homes.

In 1994, HUD awarded $79 million to the city of Philadelphia for three neighborhoods designated as the Philadelphia Empowerment Zone. The federal funds were invested in these disadvantaged neighborhoods to bring about economic development, neighborhood change, and an improved quality of life. However, this funding was only set up to last for 10 years. In order to continue positive changes, each neighborhood needed to find an alternate, long-term source of funding. The result is the Neighborhood Funding Stream. In this article, we’ll explain what the Neighborhood Funding Stream is and how it works, and we'll examine some early results.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program, created under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, provides nearly $4 billion to every state and some local communities with high foreclosure rates to acquire property, demolish, or rehabilitate abandoned properties, or offer downpayment and closing cost assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers. Grantees can also create land banks to assemble, manage, and dispose of vacant land to stabilize neighborhoods and encourage property redevelopment. We will examine land bank programs in several American cities, including Cleveland, Ohio; Genesee County (Flint), Michigan; and Atlanta, Georgia.