Urban Revitalization Faces Challenges

Community-development corporations — non-profit organizations that strive to improve inner cities by building low-cost housing and working to attract businesses — have made much progress in recent years, a new report finds.

But the organizations still face challenges that hinder their ability to attract private investment and spur economic development in poor neighborhoods, according to the report from the Ford Foundation.

Among the barriers that such groups face:

* Since most of the organizations are small, with small staffs and limited resources, they can only tackle one development project at a time, slowing the pace of revitalization.

* Retailers ignore the potential of urban markets.

* While the organizations have had success in securing financing for low-cost-housing projects, they have been less successful in attracting funds for business development projects.

The report was based on information gathered from 50 corporations in five large cities — Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington.

To obtain free copies of the report write to the Ford Foundation, Office of Communications, 320 East 43rd Street, New York 10017; call (212) 573-5169, or order through the foundation’s World-Wide Web site at www.fordfound.org.