|
Greetings!
Sign up today for the Slow Food potluck this Sunday, April 28, beginning at 2:30 P.M. at the beautiful Hillcrest Ranch in Sunol!
Register at Sunol potluck and enjoy a leisurely meal and lively conversation while partaking of locally grown food and, if you wish, locally made wines, provided by you and the other guests. See Guidelines and Philosophy. For questions, contact Willow Blish at willow.slowfood@gmail.com.
|
|
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, May 1. 6:00 - 9:00 P.M.
Alameda County Plan Bay Area Open House 6:00 - 7:30 P.M. Public Hearing 7:00 - 9:00 P.M.
Mirage Ballroom, 4100 Peralta Blvd., Fremont, CA, 94536
Wednesday, May 8, 7:00 - 9:00 P.M.Jack Jezreel speaking about new JustFaith program, "Good News People", see http://www.goodnewspeople-jfm.org/Gibson Center, Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 322 St. James Dr. (at Park Blvd.), Piedmont
. |
|
Affordable Housing Organizations
The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes. Learn more.
The Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) is the collective voice of those who support, build and finance affordable housing. NPH promotes the proven methods of the non-profit sector and focuses government policy on housing solutions for lower income people who suffer disproportionately from the housing crisis, http://www.nonprofithousing.org/.
The East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) brings together community members, public officials, nonprofit housing developers, service providers, planners, professionals, and advocates. Collectively, we're building a movement to ensure everyone has a safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home.
Since 1984, East Bay Housing Organizations has been the leading affordable housing advocacy coalition serving Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Our mission is to preserve, protect and expand affordable housing opportunities through education, advocacy and coalition-building. As a membership organization, we include more than 300 organizations and community leaders advocating for affordable housing development and equitable housing policies at the local and regional level, http://www.ebho.org/
|
|
Comments on Plan Bay Area
An article in an earlier issue of this Social Justice Newsletter described and gave links to the various sections of the Draft Plan Bay Area, see link.
The following are excerpts from Chapter 2 of the Draft Plan Bay Area
2010 2040 increase % change
Population 7,151,000 9,299,000 2,148,000 +30%
Jobs 3,385,000 4,505,000 1,120,000 +33%
Households 2,608,000 3,308,000 700,000 +27%
Housing Units 2,786,000 3,446,000 660,000 +24%
Source: ABAG, Jobs-Housing Connection Strategy (2012)
Based upon the emerging demographic changes and employment growth forecasts previously discussed, an annual average of approximately 22,000 units or 660,000 new homes are forecast to be constructed by 2040. Demand for multifamily housing is projected to increase as seniors downsize and seek the greater access to shops and services that urban locations provide. Latino and Asian household growth, along with population growth of those aged 34 and under, also will increase demand for multifamily housing in urban locations. Market demand for new homes will tilt toward townhomes, condominiums and apartments in developed areas. These homes are typically closer to transit, shops and services than the single-family residential development pattern of earlier decades.
Market demand for housing near transit also is expected to increase. According to the University
of Southern California Population Dynamics Research Group's The 2010 Census Benchmark for California's Growing and Changing Population (2011), people aged 55 and over are more likely to
prioritize public transportation, walking, access to shops and services, and multifamily housing
than do other age groups. Young singles prefer similar locations with urban amenities, and they
prioritize short commutes. These demographic changes represent substantial shifts that are
expected to contribute to the Bay Area's recovery from the Great Recession. For example, the
regional real estate market already is showing signs of recovery.
from Page 38, Chapter 2, Draft of Plan Bay Area
Recommendations concerning Plan Bay Area appeared in a blogpost from TransForm, "Putting together the Plan Bay Area puzzle", http://transformca.org/trblogpost/putting-together-plan-bay-area-puzzle
|
|
Brief Links
CARE FOR CREATION: Change needed in global environmental and climate protection (statement from Pax Christi USA), link
California Legislative Network Reports, link
Top Five Reasons Why Africa Should be a Priority for the United States, PDF link [Note: Some email services do not work for linking to PDF files. You may need to copy the link from the PDF File box at the bottom of this newsletter into your browser]
EBHO's Affordable Housing Week, link
|
|
The Book "Locavesting" Sees Growth in Local Investing
Authored by economics and business journalist Amy Cortese and copyrighted in 2011 the book "Locavesting" paints a grim picture of funding available for small businesses. She describes many efforts being made to create funding sources and thereby build "resilient, sustainable and healthy communities".
She says, "Today, we are buying local and eating local, but we still aren't investing local. There just hasn't been an easy way for individuals to put money into worthy small businesses in need of capital."
"...[O]ur financial markets have evolved to serve big business. Of all the trillions of dollars madly flying through the financial markets, less than 1 percent goes to ... provide capital to companies that will use it to hire, expand, or develop new products... When small businesses create three out of every four jobs and generate half of GDP, that is not an efficient allocation of capital."
The book argues that "as a society, we are failing our small businesses, through everything from government policies that favor big business to gross misallocation of capital" and details "how securities regulations have evolved to hamper local investment and how the financial industry has come to dominate our economy to a dangerous degree."
The later chapters of the book provide descriptions of types of funding sources for small businesses that the author feels will be of growing importance. The first of these is community banks, especially those that build personal relationships with their borrowers. As pillars of the local community credit unions play much the same role as local banks. Another possibility is state banks such as the Bank of North Dakota, which has attracted the interest of several other states.
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) may be banks, credit unions, venture capital funds or loan funds. They serve underserved and low-income communities. Community development loan funds provide money for loans to consumers (as an alternative to predatory loans), local nonprofits, affordable housing, first-time entrepreneurs, microbusinesses, and local small businesses. The Opportunity Finance Network, http://www.opportunityfinance.net/, is a network of over 200 CDFIs.
Port Townsend, Washington is the birthplace of the original Local Investment Opportunity Network (LION), connecting potential investors with potential borrowers in Port Townsend and East Jefferson County, https://l2020.org/LION. It has a growing number of imitators. Madison, Wisconsin and surrounding Dale County have such a network, http://lioninvesting.com/ourstory/the-concept/.
"Community Capital" is the term Amy Cortese uses to designate investments by local residences to rescue or sustain a local enterprise that they value. Her first example is all nine policemen in the town of Clare, Michigan, who purchased a bakery that was going out of business. They secured a continuing supply of doughnuts and also gave life to a business that soon came to employ 19 full-time workers.
Cortese gives several examples of well-loved book stores that have been saved by local investors as well as other kinds of shops, cafes and businesses.
Cortese also describes social networking and "crowdfunding" as ways to inject capital into appealing ventures. Her examples include Kiva.com, Kickstarter and IndieGoGo and consumer lending sites such as Prosper.com and LendingClub.com. Two others are FundingCircle.com and ProFounder.com (which has now shut down).
The book "Locavesting" also has a chapter called "Slow Money". It is about a national nonprofit organization made up of "semi-autonomous local chapters dedicated to creating financing solutions for small food and agriculture producers". "Slow Foods vision is to create a new type of entrepreneurial finance, one that respects the land and the farmer, connects investors to their local economies, and enlarges our definition of fiduciary responsibility." The chapter introduces the term "foodshed" which it explains as "Similar to a watershed - a geographical area's life-sustaining source and flow of water - a foodshed refers to a region's food production and distribution system. It encompasses the farm, the table, and everything in between. Like watersheds, foodsheds are vital to the health and security of a region".
It notes, "Farmers markets have increased threefold in the past decade. CSAs - community-supported agriculture - in which customers prepay for a share in the season's harvest - have grown from 60 in 1990 to more than 2,000." Slow Money has a website, http://slowmoney.org/.
The book has an extensive chapter on co-ops. Websites include the National Cooperative Business Association, http://www.ncba.coop/, the International Cooperative Alliance, http://ica.coop/,
|
|
Workshop to Consider Changes to Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance Scheduled
A workshop has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 1 at 7:00 P.M. to allow members of Pleasanton's City Council and Housing Commission to discuss possible changes to the City's ordinance which provides for inclusion of affordable housing. The workshop will be held in the Remillard Conference Room of the Operations Services Center, 3333 Busch Road, Pleasanton. The changes would be intended to remedy parts of the existing ordinance that were recently invalidated by the Palmer and Patterson court decisions.
The options recently proposed by Citizens for a Caring Community (CCC) to require the participation of nonprofit housing providers on all parcels zoned at 30+ units/acre are on the agenda for discussion. This is a major breakthrough for Pleasanton housing advocates, and would assure that, after a lengthy process to gather community input, land zoned to accommodate affordable housing will actually produce some.
CCC founder, Pat Belding, has worked hard for this opportunity, and she thanks CCC supporters and Pleasanton staff for this important opportunity. The workshop, which will be open to the public, will provide an opportunity to show support for affordable housing in our community.
Copies of CCC's proposal and also of the Housing Commission's staff report, when completed, can be obtained from Becky Dennis, becky_dennis@hotmail.com.
|
|
More Brief Links
Catholic Climate Covenant newsletter for April 24, link
|
|
