AlyssaKatz.com

Off PACE. The movement to reduce home energy consumption becomes the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis. The American Prospect, July 12, 2010.

The Reverse Commute. The Obama administration is trying to rein in suburban sprawl. But is it any match for 70 years of unsustainable development? The American Prospect, July/August 2010.

Public Housing Funds Slashed; New Plans to Privatize. The Fiscal Times, May 20, 2010.

The Lone Star Secret: How Texas Avoided the Worst of the Real Estate Meltdown. The Big Money, March 30, 2010.

Financial Reform Key to Recovery: While Congress wrecks the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, let’s keep our eyes on what’s ultimately most important to consumers: the future of government’s role in the mortgage markets. Politico, March 4, 2010.

Gentrification Hangover: How New York could create affordable housing from its empty glass condo buildings and failed takeover projects. The American Prospect, January/February 2010.

Location-Efficient Mortgages Gain Ground. Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

There Goes the Neighborhood: We’re spending billions to reverse the damage wrought by the mortgage crisis. But Wall Street’s bill collectors have their own agenda. The American Prospect, September 2009. Download full issue here [registration required].

Housing Is Local, and Lending Should be Too: We’re just now learning how dangerous it is that the sources of finance for homeowners and their neighborhoods have no real connection to those people and places. The American Prospect, May 2009

Predatory Lending With a Smiley Face: Obama is banking on “loan modifications” to help struggling homeowners — but mortgage brokers are the real winners. Salon, March 4, 2009

The Loan Ranger: Why Obama’s plan to ease troubled mortgages will be harder than it sounds, The Big Money, February 17, 2009

An Irresistably Readable Mortgage Critic, The Audit/Columbia Journalism Review, December 10, 2008
Alyssa Katz remembers Doris Dungey, aka “Tanta”

Prime Suspect, Mother Jones, September/October 2006
Cleveland is on the front lines of a housing boom gone sour. So how are the bankers, brokers, and speculators still generating massive profits?

The Autism Clause, New York, October 23, 2006
A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

The Power of Fusion Politics, The Nation, September 12, 2005

Masters of Eminent Domain, The American Prospect, July 21, 2005
The Kelo backlash is tempting, but it’s wrong. Here’s a better response for community groups.

Blocked Out, The American Prospect, April 19, 2005
A lifeline to cities, the Community Development Block Grant program faces elimination. It will probably be saved — but it also needs fixing.

Toxic Haste, The American Prospect, February 25, 2002
New York’s media rush to judgment on New York’s air.

Selected stories

Inclusionary Zoning’s Big Moment, January 2005
New York is part of a wave of cities prodding the real estate industry to build affordable housing. If local advocates get their way, developers will have no choice but to build homes for all.

Dog Days, January 2004
The city makes millions renting out park space to businesses–and turns its back on labor abuses.
Winner, New America Award, Society of Professional Journalists

Off the Waterfront, April 2003
Soon after investing millions in upgrading Red Hook’s port, the city contemplates shutting down a successful shipping operation.

Government Hand Out, January 2003
Ethics watchdogs rush to let city officials beg private dollars for struggling public programs. Who will gain?

The Houses That Mike Built, or at Least Says He Will, July 2001
Unbeholden to any landlord campaign contributions, Republican mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg floats a ambitious housing agenda.

Mommy Nearest, June 2000
The city is launching a visionary plan to house foster kids in the same neighborhoods they’ve been taken from. But for it to succeed, foster parents will have to get more than grief for their trouble.
Winner, best magazine story, Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, Casey Center for Journalism on Children and Families