On Our Radar

Axios, April 12, 2024, Big Banks Are In A Race To Get AI Right The leaders of America’s largest banks are convinced that AI will transform their businesses, but they’re mostly struggling to implement more than a handful of AI products, even internally, and can’t agree on what counts as a win.

The New York Times, April 11, 2024, It’s Time To End The Quiet Cruelty Of Property Taxes Property taxes, the lifeblood of local governments and school districts, are among the most powerful and stealthy engines of racism and wealth inequality our nation has ever produced. And while the Biden administration has offered many solutions for

BuisnessInsider, April 9, 2024, Miami Shows How A New Kind Of Gentrification Is Coming To US Cities The climate crisis has made living in many of the city’s low-lying waterfront neighborhoods increasingly perilous despite their desirable ocean views and proximity to the beach. Some of the city’s lower-income communities are farther inland and on higher

HousingWire, April 9, 2024, The Opportunity Cost Of Modern-Day Redlining Modern-day redlining persists, and it’s costing lenders millions in legal fees. Recently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken a strong stance on redlining, taking direct legal action against bad actors and thrusting the topic into the national spotlight. Last October, Ameris Bank had to pay $9 million to settle

Axios Denver, April 16, 2024, Latest Denver Homeless Encampment Sweep Won’t Come With Housing Options Denver will clear a homeless encampment Tuesday, but for the first time in six months, it won’t provide direct housing options for people affected. Why it matters: It’s a blow to Mayor Mike Johnston’s homeless strategy, which had guaranteed shelter to people being relocated

Business Insider, April 9, 2024, Miami Shows How A New Kind Of Gentrification Is Coming To US Cities The problem will likely get worse as the impacts of warming temperatures, rising sea levels, and more extreme storms worsen — and as millennials, who are concerned about climate risks, grow as a share of homebuyers. And Miami is

HousingWire, April 9, 2024, The Opportunity Cost Of Modern-Day Redlining Lenders need to carefully evaluate their lending strategies to ensure that they are not unintentionally practicing redlining by neglecting MMCT and LMI neighborhoods, or they may face millions in penalties. But the true cost of redlining is still larger, and it’s counted in lost revenue,

Vox, April 10, 2024, America Is Full Of Abandoned Malls. What If We Turned Them Into Housing? Casciani ached for her town, which not only was dealing with the eyesore of the abandoned mall but also lacked enough vacant land to develop desperately needed affordable housing. Her nonprofit development group, PathStone, embarked on a complex

The New York Times, April 9, 2024, Banks Made Big Climate Promises. A New Study Doubts They Work. Two and half years ago, bankers and investors attended the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, an annual event normally dominated by activists and policymakers. It was considered a milestone as the financial sector agreed to put

CBS News, April 8, 2024, Half Of Americans Struggling To Afford Housing, Survey Finds Many Americans are struggling to keep a roof over their head amid the high cost of housing in the U.S. About half of homeowners and renters said they have periodically struggled this year to afford their mortgage payment or rent, according

Yahoo! Finance, April 9, 2024, West Virginia Bars Citi, HSBC From Banking Contracts Over Oil Citigroup Inc., TD Bank, Northern Trust Corp., and HSBC Holdings have been added to a list of companies that State Treasurer Riley Moore’s office determined engage in such a boycott based on a review of each institution’s environmental, social and

Fast Company, April 8, 2024, Housing Market Affordability Is So Strained That Home Depot Is Selling Tiny Homes For $63,000. In response to the escalating strain on housing affordability, Home Depot, a leading home improvement retailer ranked No. 20 on the Fortune 500 list, has continued to launch a range of tiny homes and Accessory Dwelling

Penn LDI, April 8, 2024, Despite Broad Efforts, U.S. Health Equity Gap Continues To Grow Despite broad efforts since 2009 to increase the availability of health insurance and access to health care for underserved populations, low-income people are remaining sicker than higher-income people and that health inequity gap continues to grow. That’s according to José Escarce,

The New York Times, April 5, 2024, New Report Reveals N.Y.C Areas Most Hurt By Environmental Inequities Nearly half of the city’s population lives in what the report describes as an “environmental justice area.” (It determined these areas, which typically have histories of societal neglect resulting in elevated levels of pollution and health issues, using

Grist, April 5, 2024, In Chicago, One Neighborhood Is Fighting Gentrification And Climate Change At The Same Time The building is an example of what urban planners call Transit-Oriented Development, or TOD. The idea is that developing near transit stations leads to interconnected communities and fewer cars emitting carbon dioxide. Developers get incentives and neighbors get