Series of ‘think tanks’ planned

CNU is planning “a series of think tanks for the next six months” on housing issues, says board member Ray Gindroz, who was involved in formulating the federal HOPE VI program. “I think we need six months to figure out the answer to the question” of how to respond to the possible end of the HOPE VI program, he says. The goal is that even if the Bush administration discontinues HOPE VI after projects already approved are completed, the program’s innovations would continue. Gindroz credits HOPE VI with following path-breaking accomplishments: • Mixing public housing tenants with people of higher incomes. • Mixing public funds and private investment to create bigger and more effective developments. • Introducing private developers for more effective housing production. • Reducing federal restrictions and “putting discretion in the hands of the local community, with the caveat that there be a public participatory process.” • Using housing subsidies for the broad goal of “neighborhood- or community-building” rather than focusing solely on building subsidized residential units. “It’s those innovations that need to be built upon and supported,” Gindroz says. He notes that the University of Pennsylvania’s planning program and Wharton School of Business have launched an urban fellowship to “train people to do mixed-income, mixed-finance developments in the context of community-building.” He says the Knight Foundation also is interested in encouraging such development.