A recap of the week’s equity news

“Study Shows Colorado Has Largest Rise in Child Poverty,” New York Times

DENVER — Colorado experienced the nation’s largest rate of growth in impoverished children from 2000 to 2006, according to a study released Tuesday.

The study, by the Colorado Children’s Campaign, a nonprofit group that focuses on child welfare, said that the most recent census data show that 180,000 children — 15.7 percent of the state total — were living in poverty in Colorado in 2006, a 73 percent increase since 2000.

“Jammed Transit Systems Running on Fumes,” MSNBC, June 11

Transportation experts who have pushed mass transit since the 1970s are getting their wish as soaring gas prices persuade Americans to abandon their cars for buses and trains in record numbers. But as the adage says, be careful what you wish for.

Mass transit ridership is at its highest point in 50 years, according to research by the American Public Transportation Association. For many riders, it just got too expensive to drive.

“How HUD Mortgage Policy Fed the Crisis,” Washington Post, June 10

In 2004, as regulators warned that subprime lenders were saddling borrowers with mortgages they could not afford, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development helped fuel more of that risky lending.

Eager to put more low-income and minority families into their own homes, the agency required that two government-chartered mortgage finance firms purchase far more “affordable” loans made to these borrowers. HUD stuck with an outdated policy that allowed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to count billions of dollars they invested in subprime loans as a public good that would foster affordable housing.

The Guardian, the UK’s premier newspaper at covering in-depth issues in the States, today features an insightful piece on the “epic housing crisis” facing New Orleans. The article highlights the startling rental housing statistics researched by Annie Clark and Kalima Rose in the landmark PolicyLink report, “Bringing Louisiana Renters Back Home.” (pdf) The article features quotes from Ms. Clark, as well.

There are few incentives for landlords to renovate their rental properties. The Louisiana Recovery Authority’s “Road Home” program offers incentives for “small rental property owners” but it is not popular with mom-and-pop landlords, according to Annie Clark of progressive policy and research institute PolicyLink.

“A landlord says, ‘Yes I am going to rehabilitate my rental units,’” Clark explained, “but then he or she has to get a bank loan which is then paid back by Road Home. Banks are very hesitant to give loans to people this way.”

Clark added that Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has rehabilitated only about 1,500 units of the 4,600 units it has set aside for seniors, the disabled and poor working families in New Orleans. “HUD really has shirked its responsibility in these units,” Clark said.

The full piece is definitely worth a read to get a sense of the depth of the housing crisis still ongoing in New Orleans.