Andy Kroll wanders through the rubble of California's subprime crisis and finds homeowners waiting 10-12 hours in lines for mortgage relief, plummeting property values, and what may be the seeds of more foreclosures to come.
Kroll visits a crowded mortgage relief center outside San Francisco and neighborhoods in Stockton riddled with abandoned homes and wonders how anyone can see this and call it an economic recovery. He writes:
"A passerby, stealing a quick glance, might have taken the crowd for avid concertgoers staked out for tickets. There was, however, no concert here -- just weary, huddled souls, slouched in vinyl folding chairs, covered by blankets, windbreakers, and knit hats against a late autumn chill. This was, in fact, the latest stop on the "Save the Dream" tour, a massive homeowner-relief event organized by a consumer advocate group, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA).
No one -- not a single person -- I interviewed at "Save the Dream" agreed with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner or Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that their country was on the economic rebound."
FULL STORY: Housing Meltdown, Ground Zero
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
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Wildlife Rebounds After the Eaton Fire
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LA to Replace Inglewood Light Rail Project With Bus Shuttles
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
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Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions