New Updates on The Edge - 05/20/2014

New on The Edge

Message from Senior Leadership:
Sharing and Learning at the World Urban Forum: Medellin as a Case Study
Salin Geevarghese, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation, discusses Secretary Donovan's trip to Medellin, Columbia to attend the seventh World Urban Forum and reviews lessons learned from the dramatic turnaround taking place in the host city.

In Practice:
New Mixed-Use Development in New Orleans' Central City Neighborhood
The Harrell Building combines office, retail, and affordable housing in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans. The mixed-use project is part of revitalization efforts to reverse disinvestment and restore the neighborhood’s roots as a civic and cultural hub.

Policy Update:
Vacant and Abandoned Properties: Turning Liabilities into Assets
Vacant and abandoned properties present tremendous challenges in neighborhoods across the country. Increasingly, cities and communities are using data to inform the use of limited resources and are deploying a variety of strategies that fit with local conditions.

Housing Scorecard:
April 2014 Housing Scorecard
The data in the April 2014 scorecard show progress across key indicators, with home prices remaining stable and foreclosure completions at their lowest level since mid-2007. However, new and existing home sales have slowed. Purchases of new homes were down 14.5 percent from February to an 8-month low, and existing home sales were virtually the same in March but were down 7.5 percent from a year earlier.