Here Comes The Neighborhood

31 December 2005 - 11:00am

A non-profit affordable housing developer sets an example as one of the first to move into an impoverished neighborhood.

Five years ago, Dan Short began a journey that would lead him to the “Mustard Seed Development Corp. -- a community-centered nonprofit with deep religious roots. Short looked at the neighborhood...and discovered its ZIP code, 73114, made up the second-poorest in the Oklahoma City. Mustard Seed's plan became to take the entire area and make it the group's focus...In order to address these concerns, Short decided he had to practice what he would soon begin to preach. He moved into the neighborhood."

"It's the core belief we have. By moving here and living here, we are close to the people that we're working with and we become their neighbors and their families. We become connected in very real ways…It makes it possible for us to do a much more effective job of understanding what the needs are and developing solutions with them -- not for them."

Full Story: Like a Good Neighbor
Source: Oklahoma Gazette, December 28, 2005
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Even if the report overestimates the costs by a factor of two and underestimates the tax-benefit by a similar amount, the conclusion would be pretty much the same: destination resorts cost local government and taxpayers money.