Joseph Kriesberg, J.D. joek@macdc.org
Phone: 617.721.7250 (cell)
Office hours: By appointment
Course Information
Course Title: UPCD 725 Contemporary Community Development
Prerequisites:
Prerequisite
Skills:
Course
Description: This course is designed to explore and examine the challenges and opportunities confronting community developers in the second decade of the 21 st Century. It will examine how the field has evolved since its birth in the 1960s and 1970s and how it is different today from the past. We will learn how the field is currently organized, including the role of different players such as community based organizations, community development financial institutions, local, state and federal government agencies, banks, and other stakeholders. We will explore core community development issues and strategies, including community planning, community organizing, real estate development and business development, while also looking at some of the emerging innovations in the field. We will look at the connections being developed between the
CD field and other sectors such as health, environment, public safety and education. By the end of the course, students should have a broad understanding of the key issues in the field and be better prepared to enter a professional opportunity in the community development sector. Students will gain a nuanced understanding of the many debates that currently exist within the field and begin to develop their own views on these tough questions. Finally, students will gain experience communicating about community development issues in ways that are effective for different audiences, including practitioners, policy makers and non-professional community leaders. Finally, students will gain a deeper understanding of the particularly exciting community development field here in Boston through guest presentations, readings, and hopefully some touring of nearby neighborhoods.
Required Text(s): Gary Paul Green and Anna Haines, Asset Building & Community Development,
ISBN: 9781412982238
Grading Policy

Students are required to read all of the assigned readings prior to class and be prepared to discuss them.
The class participation component of your grade will be based on participation in the discussion that demonstrates knowledge of the assigned readings, as well as on any class presentations assigned during the semester.
Final grades will be based on the following:
Class participation 15%
Short Assignments
Mid-term project
Final Project
25%
25%
35%
Academic Honesty
Class 1: Community Development History & Frameworks
Reading Assignment due September :
 Green & Haines, Chapter 1 & 2
 Skim material about the Community Development Partnership Act found at: http://www.macdc.org/policy/policy-agenda-2011-12
 Skim www.macdc.org
, including my blog
Site Visit to Madison Park Development Corporation
Homework Assignment due September 13: Find 3 definitions of Community Development and pick your favorite and explain why or write your own
Class 2: Race and Community Development and Regional Equity
Reading Assignment due September :
 Privileged Places: Race, Uneven Development and the Geography of Opportunity in Urban
America, Gregory D. Squires and Charis E. Kubrin: https://webfiles.uci.edu/ckubrin/Privileged%20Places.pdf?uniq=fn1t8r
 The Geography of Opportunity: Building Communities of Opportunity in Massachusetts : http://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/reece5.pdf
 Find more information about the Massachusetts Opportunity Map at: http://www.racetalkblog.org/research/projects/massneighbopp/MA-opportunity-mappingresource-site/index.php
 “Will Opportunity Mapping Take Us in the Wrong Direction?” by Joe Kriesberg:

http://blog.macdc.org/2011/10/will-opportunity-mapping-take-us-in-the-wrong-direction/
 “Regionalism and Affordable Housing: A discussion with Edward G. Goetz and Myron Orfield:” http://www.instituteccd.org/news/3262
Homework Due Assignment Due September 20: Write one page or less about the neighborhood where you grew up, its strengths and weaknesses, its demographics, what you liked and disliked. Was it a “community of opportunity” or not?
Class 3: Community Development Process
Reading Assignment due September :
 Green & Haines, Chapter 4
 “Building Community in Place: Limitations and Promise,” by Bill Traynor: http://www.macdc.org/initiatives/Building-Community-in-Place.pdf
 “Let’s Stimulate Demand Driven Community Development,” by Joe Kriesberg: http://blog.macdc.org/2010/05/lets-stimulate-demand-driven-community-development/
Guest Speaker: Bob Van Meter, LISC
Mid-Term project to be assigned with due date of November 1.
Class 4: The Community Development Partnership Act and the Role of CBOs
Reading Assignment due September :
 Green & Haines, Chapter 5
 Skim material about the Community Development Partnership Act found at: http://www.macdc.org/policy/policy-agenda-2011-12
 “What’s a CDC” by Joe Kriesberg: http://blog.macdc.org/2010/08/whats-a-cdc/
 “Mourning Can be the Key to Growth,” by Joe Kriesberg: http://blog.macdc.org/2011/05/mourning-can-be-the-key-to-growth/
 New Report is Required Reading for Community Developers,” by Joe Kriesberg: http://blog.macdc.org/2011/02/new-report-is-required-reading-for-community-developers/
 “Building Sustainable Organizations for Affordable Housing and Community Development
Impact,” by the Enterprise Foundation: http://www.macdc.org/building_sustainable_organizations_report.pdf
 “Learning from Adversity: The CDC School of Hard Knocks,” by Rachel Bratt, et al, http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/129/CDCfailures.html
Homework assignment due October : Write a one-page summary (or less) of a CDC owned affordable housing project that includes a photo, description of the resident population, description of

the surrounding neighborhood, financing sources, and your thoughts about the quality of the design, location, density and other characteristics.
Class 5: The role of affordable housing in community development
Reading Assignment due October :
 Green & Haines, Chapter 8
 “Managing Neighborhood Change: A Framework for Sustainable and Equitable Revitalization,” by Allan Mallach. http://www.macdc.org/initiatives/ManagingNeighborhoodChange.pdf
 Housing Evolution: Less Top-Down, More Networked, by David Erickson: http://www.bos.frb.org/commdev/c&b/2011/spring/Erickson_affordable_housing.pdf
Guest Speaker: Mat Thal, Community Development & Housing Consultant
Class 6: Commercial Real Estate Development, including mixed use, mixed income and transit oriented development
Reading Assignment due October :
 Green & Haines, Chapter 8
 “Weaving Together Vibrant Communities through Transit-Oriented Development,” by Allison
Brooks, Reconnecting America (available on blackboard.)
 “10 Strategies for Attracting Investment Near Transit,” by Urban Land Institute (available on blackboard.)
 Executive Summary, “CDFIs and Transit Oriented Development,” by Center for Transit
Oriented Development (available on blackboard.)
Guest Speaker: Stephanie Pollack, Northeastern University
Homework Assignment due October 18: Visit a TOD project along the Orange Line, take a picture and write 250 words about the project or the site.

Class 7: Financial Capital – the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and the Community
Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Industry
Reading Assignment due October
 Green & Haines, Chapter 9
 "The CRA: A Law That Works" Dollars & Sense, Nov/Dec
1997, www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/1997/1197campen.html
 "Update on Mortgage Lending Discrimination," Dollars & Sense, Nov/Dec
2010, www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2010/1110campen.html
 "The Soft Second Program Celebrates Ten Years," Communities & Banking, Spring 2001, pp.
15-17, www.bos.frb.org/commdev/c&b/2001/spring01.pdf
 Skim this report on CRA ratings in
Massachusetts: http://mahahome.org/sites/default/files/CRA%20Ratings%202011%20final.p
df
 “A Framework for Revisiting the CRA,” http://www.frbsf.org/publications/community/cra/framework_revisiting_cra.pdf
 OPTIONAL (if you want more readings on CRA) http://www.bos.frb.org/commdev/regulatory-resources/cra/Revisiting-the-CRA.htm
 “CDFI Industry Analysis Summary Report,” by Carsey Institute: http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/sites/carseyinstitute.unh.edu/files/publications/Report-Swack-
CDFI-Industry-Analysis.pdf
 “The Capital Absorption Capacity of Places: A Research Agenda and Framework, by Living
Cities: http://www.livingcities.org/knowledge/media/?action=view&id=74
Guest Speaker: Jim Campen, CRA Expert
Final Project to be assigned with due date of December .
Class 8: Social Capital and Networks
Reading Assignment due October :
 Green & Haines, Chapter 7 & 12
 “Network Organizing: A Strategy for Building Community Engagement,” by William J.
Traynor and Jessica Andors: http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/140/LCW.html
Guest Speaker: Jess Andors, Lawrence Community Works

Class 9: Mid-Term Presentations by students
Topics: Connections between Community Development and: Art& Culture, Public Health,
Public Safety/Crime, and Education
Reading Assignment due November :
 To be determined by students
Class 10: Community Development & Environmental Sustainability
Reading Assignment due November
 Green & Haines, Chapter 10 & 13
 “Community Development Goes Green: How MACDC Members Are Embracing
Environmental Sustainability,” by MACDC: http://www.macdc.org/MACDC_Green_CDCs_Report_October_2010.pdf
 “Get Big or Get Out,” by Jeremy Liu: http://rooflines.org/2745/get_big_or_get_out/
Guest Speaker: Madeline Fraser Cook, LISC Green Communities Program
Homework assignment due November 15: Write a “reply comment” of 150-200 words in response to
Jim Capraro’s blog post “It’s the economy, stupid!” (see link below)
Class 11: Human Capital & Economic Development
Reading Assignment due November :
 Green & Haines, Chapter 6
 “It's the economy, stupid! -- A lesson in six chapters,” by Jim Capraro, Institute for
Comprehensive Community Development: http://www.instituteccd.org/news/2214
 “White paper: New and definitive evidence on what works to revitalize urban commercial corridors,” Institute for Comprehensive Community Development: http://www.instituteccd.org/news/2519
 “The Northwest Side Community Development Corporation: transforming the approach to creating positive economic impact in distressed communities:” by Howard Snyder and Tina
Daniell: http://chicagofed.org/digital_assets/publications/profitwise_news_and_views/2011/PNV_Sep

2011_ReEd_FINAL_web.pdf
 “Owning Your Own Job is a Beautiful Thing: Community Wealth Building in Cleveland,
Ohio,” by Ted Howard: http://www.whatworksforamerica.org/pdf/howard.pdf
Class 12: Political Capital, Policy, The Community Development Eco System
Reading Assignment due November :
 Green & Haines, Chapter 11
Guest Lecture : Aaron Gornstein, Undersecretary, Housing and Community Development,
Commonwealth
Class 13: Future of Community Development
Reading Assignment due December
 Green & Haines, Chapter 15
 Skim material about the Massachusetts Community Development Innovation Forum found at: http://www.macdc.org/initiatives/innovations-forum
 How can we drive performance in the community development field,” by Joe Kriesberg: http://blog.macdc.org/2011/03/how-can-we-drive-performance-in-the-communitydevelopment-field/
 “ What is the Other Side of the CDFI Coin?
” by Joe Kriesberg