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Public housing has long been one of America’s top examples of government failure. From urban renewal, through the construction of high-rise ghettos, to demolition and rebuilding, the story has been about optimism and good intentions, followed by mismanagement and delay.

Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been greenlighted to get back into the Low Income Housing Tax Credit market, the big agencies aren’t wasting any time. Freddie hopes to announce its first investment next month, and Fannie says it expects to re-enter the market in the first quarter of next year.

The public perception of New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) is that they are a federal program meant to revitalize urban areas. The credits have been used by community development entities to obtain financing that restores the vacant storefronts and aging business infrastructure of America’s inner cities. But more recently, NMTCs have actually been repurposed to favor non-metro America, defined as the counties that don’t have a core urban area of over 50,000, and are considered by the federal government to be “rural.”

What I love most about the affordable housing industry is that it is populated by so many makers, doers and visionaries. Where most people see a piece of dirt, a blighted factory or a run-down apartment community, the tax credit developer seeks to fill an unmet societal need or market niche and conceives a future community.

One of the most common raps against any kind of social welfare program for low-income individuals is that it robs them of the incentive to better themselves.

Jeffrey Woda grew up in rural eastern Ohio, separated from Wheeling, WV by the Ohio River, the son and grandson of homebuilding contractors. He left the area to become a CPA and was employed for a time by Ernst and Young, working with construction companies, financial institutions and other corporate entities.

Sometimes it can be hard to fathom that various American governing bodies are actually inflicting a housing crisis onto their people.

This September, a new building opened in Minneapolis that, while unspectacular, represents a prototype for the future of urban American development.

The rules have changed a little on getting historic preservation tax credits on multi-building projects. But it will still be possible to do such large-scale renovations. In fact, the new guidance should make some big deals easier to do.

What constitutes effective leadership and how to improve it is a constant source of discussion and reflection throughout American industry in both the profit and nonprofit sectors. The affordable housing area is no exception.

State affordable housing trusts provide viable supplemental funding and potential alternatives to federal housing programs, sources that can come in handy if federal budgets are cut.

When you think of innovation in American business you probably think of Apple, Google and the myriad of tech “unicorns” (i.e. billion dollar startups) which dominate the business news. What do all of these companies have in common? Their business models are fundamentally all based on disruption.