Publications on Community Building, Development

Neighborhoods with high concentrations of foreclosures and increasing vacancy rates are likely to generate substantial unanticipated costs for resident families and jurisdictions. Any formula distributing resources to help cover those costs must be carefully constructed if it is to be equitable. In this testimony, Kingsley makes six points related to that goal.

The development of affordable spaces for artists to live and/or work is certainly an important matter for artists, but it can also be an important issue for people concerned with a range of social issues, including economic development, civic engagement, community collective action and community quality of life. This report considers how artist space developments have been positioned and the arguments made to garner support for them, the advocacy strategies used, and the impacts claimed or anticipated.

In 2003, an Urban Institute report concluded that lack of affordable space posed critical constraints in artists’ ability to pursue their work effectively. Scarcity of affordable space not only made it difficult for artists to work but also disrupted entire communities of artists who relied on each other for ideas and support. In response to this finding, this report looks at both a range of ways in which more affordable artist spaces can be created and the impact of artists’ spaces on neighborhoods and cities.

This study analyzes the extent to which the SBA's 7(a) and 504 programs serve borrowers facing capital gaps. Comparative and market share analyses show that women-, minority-owned, and start-up firms accounted for a higher share of the loans and larger share of lending volume under the 7(a) and 504 Programs compared to such firms' share of conventional small business loans. 7(a) and 504 loans went to firms that, on average, had lower sales and fewer employees than firms that received conventional small business loans. These differences suggest that SBA’s 7(a) and 504 Programs served borrowers who face a capital gap.

This report addresses two questions about outcomes for firms receiving assistance through SBA's 7(a), CDC 504, or SBIC programs between 1999 and 2001: 1) what happens to sales, employment, and survival before and after firms receive SBA financing; and 2) what explains the changes observed in sales or employment after firms receive SBA financing? Descriptive analyses found that prior to financing and each year thereafter, average sales increased over time, as did average employment. Multivariate analyses found that firm age, industry, and region of the country were significantly related to percent change in sales and employment for all three programs.