The United States is witnessing a quiet revolution in its approach to the revitalization of distressed urban communities. Most urban neighborhoods, even those blocks away from reviving downtowns and robust waterfronts and university areas, have high poverty, low social mobility, a lack of entrepreneurial activity, and major wealth disparities.  These communities are also past and present victims of institutional racism. They sit on the “wrong side of the color line;” access to quality capital and mentoring to help residents purchase homes and build businesses remains scarce while parasitic capital for dollar stores, payday lenders and check cashers is plentiful.

For almost sixty years, governments, foundations, and banks in the U.S. have tried to solve issues of urban policy by dutifully delivering a top-down “Community Development” system. The goal: use large federal grants, big philanthropy, and subsidized bank debt to build units of low-income rental housing. While there has been some constructive impact, the system of Community Development has largely failed to turn around the macro trends that plague American neighborhoods.  The government and philanthropic sectors have  largely ignored the collapse of economic dynamism and the growing wealth gap in American families.  And the private sector has largely ignored the distinctive characteristics and potential of poor neighborhoods and encouraged mergers, monopolization, and poor quality service retail that often undermines the producers and entrepreneurs that create wealth in poor and middle-class communities. 

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