The Passarella Group

Student Loans A Lot Like The Subprime Mortgage Debacle, Watchdog Says Mike Calhoun rang the alarm bell early on about the subprime mortgage debacle — before reckless lending drove the economy into recession. These days, he's sounding the alarm about student loans.

Public Housing Doesn't Have to Be Terrible And it hasn't always been

Data driving smarter development. Well done KC!

Kansas City’s regional development process: Data driving new opportunities The city is using evidence—rather than conventional assumptions about planning—to address sprawl and segregation across the region.

‘White flight’ and Detroit’s decline The impact of dysfunctional race relations on a once-great city.

As Detroit teeters on bankruptcy, creditors are left holding the bag Emergency plan would slash retiree pensions and give bondholders just pennies on the dollar.

Social Impact Bonds: A New Model to Reduce Blight | MetroTrends Blog - MetroTrends Blog

Rx for Inner Harbor: cut down on cars and glitz, add good transit | Baltimore Brew A retired transportation planner calls on downtown interests to skip the razzle-dazzle and tackle the fundamentals that will steer the Inner Harbor to a vibrant future as a neighborhood. Top priority – curb auto traffic and get surface rail transit into the district.

America's jobs are moving to the suburbs Jobs continue to move to the suburbs despite more people living downtown, potentially crimping growth.

Chinese Skyscrapers in Danger of Collapse | Planetizen "A sand scandal is brewing in China, with concerns that low-quality concrete has been used in the construction of many of the country’s largest buildings — putting them at risk of collapse," reports Ian Steadman. "Inspections by state officials have found raw, unprocessed sea sand in at least 15 bui...

Good article.. the boom is mostly fueled by international buyers purchasing in cash... over 60% of the housing purchased in 2012 was straight cash homey...

Miami condo market again defies gravity -- and reason Prices are up nearly 25 percent from a year ago. How can this be?

That Fantasy High-Speed Rail Map Needn’t Be Just a Fantasy Last month, graphic designer and railroad aficionado Alfred Twu published a stunning map of what America would look like if virtually every last nook and cranny of the country were connected by a state-of-the-art, 220-mph rail network. Twu’s plan for a national high-speed rail system could get passe...

Shout out to my friends at National Low Income Housing Coalition... great work gang!!

Out of Reach 2013: National Low Income Housing Coalition Elina Bravve, Research AnalystMegan Bolton, Research DirectorSheila Crowley, PresidentThe Housing Wage in Out of Reach captures the gap between wages and rents across the country, and is the estimate of