Neither public nor private efforts to date have been able to resolve the persistent poverty among residents of U.S. inner cities and rural areas. In the latest search for more effective and efficient ways to combat social and economic ills, community development corporations (CDCs) claim to be making great strides in improving inner city neighborhoods and rural communities by “empowering” individuals and providing them with the tools to achieve their own social and economic success.
This survey course examines the Community Economic Development Movement through a lens broadly focused on community development corporations and their activities. It considers the statutory and regulatory world in which CDCs operate and the tools they use to achieve community economic development (e.g., eminent domain, microlending, tax credit incentives, and the Community Reinvestment Act). Lastly, the course looks at efforts to build income and assets in low-income communities with an emphasis on legal structures and barriers to success.