"Economic growth for a lot of cities is not that difficult to do... Equitable growth is very difficult to do." David D. Troutt, founding director of the Rutgers Law School Center on Law in Metropolitan Equity, on Newark, NJ's Commission to Fight Gentrification. Listen to the podcast here.
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Don't miss CLiME Director David Troutt's keynote address during tomorrow's Equity Leadership Symposium: Aligning Restorative Practices and Restorative Justice!
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Mayor Ras J. Baraka, Manager of the Office of Affordable Housing Al-Tariq Shabazz, President & CEO of the Newark Alliance Aisha Glover, and Founding Director of the Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME) David D. Troutt, will hold a press conference to announce the creation of the Equitable Growth Advisory Commission on Thursday, December 6, at 11:15 a.m., in the City Hall Press Room, located on 920 Broad Street. The Municipal Council approved this initiative at its regular meeting today.
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"Displacement through gentrification comes about because cities make deliberate tax policy decisions that favor certain elements over others," said David Troutt, one of the authors of the report and director of Rutger's Center for Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity. "A city like Newark has to exercise that same authority to protect (residents)," he added. "This is an obligation to make sure as it plans for growth, it also plans for affordability. Otherwise people disappear.”
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When it comes to misogyny and white supremacy, we’ve held the wrong audience accountable. For years, Harvey Weinstein’s and Donald Trump’s private audiences could be divided into two types of (often) men: his vocal supporters and his silent endorsers. The outspoken supporters — whether casual misogynists or white supremacists — are henchmen who helped take down women’s careers or allies in Congress who are themselves proponents of a white nationalist agenda. Most critics of both Weinstein and Trump consider this “base” group the real problem.
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A new report by the Economic Policy Institute confirms that there has been a structural change in low wage employment toward part-time work. This is apart from cyclical changes brought about by normal business cycles or even the Great Recession. The number of involuntary part-time workers shot up from 4.5 to 9 million during the Great Recession. Although the current levels are 6 million–an improvement from the 9 million during the Great Recession–we have not returned to pre-recession levels. The report states that employers are using part-time work as a cost …
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This year was one of decisive forward momentum for CLiME. We advanced our interdisciplinary framework for public scholarship on issues of metropolitan equity through the following programmatic highlights: The Trauma, Schools and Poverty Project (TSP); Equitable Growth—Newark; Fellowship; Scholarship; Staffing; and Communications.
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On May 5th, CLiME hosted a national conference on Trauma, Schools and Poverty. The Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME) is committed to studying the role of law and policy in encouraging or inhibiting opportunity based on place. This conference is an outgrowth of the Trauma, Schools and Poverty Project.
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Welcome to the Place, Race, and Equity Legislative Watch, which tracks proposed federal legislation by Congress that impact the fight to eliminate place-based inequality. Between January 3 and May 26th, members of Congress have proposed 5,149 bills and resolutions. Of these, 40 are on the topic of Housing and Community Development. In that time, 16 bills have become law. Note: Senator Lindsey Graham has stated, “For all practical purposes the political process will be ground to a halt by these allegations,” in reference to the ongoing allegations against President …
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Cities may sue banks for injuries to their tax base caused by unlawful conduct against homeowners, according to the Supreme Court in a May 1st decision that was closely watched by fair housing advocates. An unusual split among the justices produced the 5-4 opinion in Bank of America v. City of Miami. The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) ruling demonstrates that the aggregation of direct harms can produce broader consequences that may be actionable by indirect victims.
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Jeena Shah is a Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law in Rutgers Law School’s Constitutional Rights and International Human Rights Clinics. She recently spoke with CLiME staff member Tara Marlowe to discuss her approach to community lawyering.
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On May 5, 2017 CLiME hosted an interdisciplinary conference around systemic response to psychological trauma in youth. Dr. Alexandra Margevich has written an outstanding summary of the conference, which can be downloaded here. Recent CLIME publications on the topic of trauma and law include two new legal memos, one on emotional disturbance classification and the other on international perspectives on child trauma, a critical literature review and an article by CLiME Director Professor David Dante Troutt.
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At the invitation of the Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use, a joint partnership between the Urban Land Institute and the National League of Cities, CLiME Senior Fellow Cristina Garmendia served as a member of a panel of experts to the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Mayor of Grand Rapids, The Honorable Rosalynn Bliss, along with three members of her staff, challenged the panel to help the City of Grand Rapids find ways to align its community and economic development policies, practices, and incentives to achieve a more equitable city.
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New Jersey Policy Perspective released a new report March 10th, outlining their recommendations to improve the economic prospects for all New Jersey residents. The report includes policies to address poverty, tax reform, health care, and improvements to safety net programs. The report was released at a conference last Friday, which featured speeches and breakout sessions by some of the leading policy experts in the state. There was a tremendous keynote speech by Heather McGhee of Demos and talks from several gubernatorial candidates.
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On Feb 9, the Urban Institute hosted a panel highlighting the interdependence of household financial security and city budgets. Researchers have found that even a small amount of savings dramatically reduces the likelihood of costly remedial support services and can improve income for local governments. The panelists point out that cities and mayors, with their convening power, are “uniquely positioned” to interrupt the cycle of poverty.
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A new article by Salon makes an outstanding counterpoint to the growing narrative of 'the forgotten Americans' as the white working class voters from the US Midwest. Most poignantly, writer Leonard Steinhorn points out that "in the four presidential elections since 2004, candidates held 46 percent of their general-election visits in just five Rust Belt states — Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa — whereas they held none in Alabama and a grand total of one in Mississippi, and that was a predominantly white rally Trump held in Jackson, miles away from the largely black Delta."
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Welcome to the Place, Race, and Equity Legislative Watch. We will be tracking proposed federal legislation by Congress that impact the fight to eliminate place-based inequality. Before proposed legislation becomes law, it is reviewed by an internal committee, then must pass a House vote, Senate vote, and finally be approved by the President. Through at least 2018, the Senate and House Majority are Republican. For context, according to the Library of Congress, the 114th Congress proposed 18,747 bills, resulting in 113 laws in the 2015-2016 session.
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Fair housing under the Mt. Laurel doctrine is resurrected in New Jersey. On January 18th, days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump would unsettle expectations of HUD’s role in supporting federal fair housing, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed the vitality of the state’s own constitutional requirement that all municipalities provide their “fair share” of the regional need for affordable housing. That constitutional requirement had been dead for 18 years, thanks to recalcitrance by the governor and the state regulatory body—the Council on Affordable Housing …
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The Terrell Homes public housing project, with over 200 units situated in Newark’s Ironbound area, has again been proposed for demolition by the Newark Housing Authority, in the face of residents’ protests. The Terrell Homes is comprised of primarily black residents, who make up 10% of the 07105 zip code where the housing development sits; demolition of the units could significantly lower the proportion of black residents in the Ironbound neighborhood and therefore violate the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule.
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"Suburban housing markets across the United States are evolving rapidly and overall remain well-positioned to maintain their relevance in the years ahead as the places where most Americans live and work, even as many urban cores and downtown neighborhoods continue to attract new residents and businesses, according to a new publication from the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
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