Community Investments Magazine is produced by the Community Development Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The magazine serves as a forum to discuss issues relevant to community development in the Federal Reserve’s 12th District, and to highlight innovative programs and ideas that have the potential to improve the communities in which we work.

In this issue of Community Investments, we highlight the San Francisco Fed’s role in community development efforts taking place in the 12th District, including programs to help bank the unbanked, prevent foreclosures, and provide mortgage credit in Indian Country. 

CI NOTEBOOK
by Naomi Cytron
Senior Research Associate

An article published in the New York Times earlier this summer examined what you may be feeling as you pick up this issue of Community Investments: the dread of yet another message about the size of your carbon footprint.

The article posited that the growing din of environmental warnings and sustainable product marketing is creating “green noise” —leading the public to feel confused, overwhelmed, or worse, fed up by the messaging before any meaningful change is accomplished.

Has “green fatigue” already set in? We don’t think so. Indeed, in this issue we highlight efforts that demonstrate a growing commitment by the community development field to taking environmental concerns into account. The articles in this issue illustrate how developers, investors, and grassroots organizations are finding creative and effective ways to bundle environmentally responsible outcomes with community development ends.

But there is a lot more room to assess and implement changes to our lines of business that are environmentally sustainable—new choices and practices that can help reduce our collective environmental footprint and ensure that low-income communities benefit from the rising green tide.

We hope that the articles in this issue spark some ideas for greener approaches to community and economic development in the areas you serve.

Download Community Investments Magazine, Summer 2008

PDF format, 1MB, 20Pages.

Inside this Issue
It’s Getting Easier to be Green.................................................................................3
Industrial Decline and the Opportunities and Challenges
of Brownfield Redevelopment.................................................................................8
Case Study: Transforming a Brownfield in Baltimore............................................. 12
Re-Building It Green............................................................................................. 14
Environmental Justice.......................................................................................... 16
Triple-Bottom Line Investing: Balancing Financial, Social and
Environmental Returns......................................................................................... 17

On the Cover:
The community gardens at Seattle, Washington’s High Point. Part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI program, High Point may be the largest environmentally responsible housing project ever built. For additional information, see Box 1.1 on page 4.

Visit Community Investments Magazine, Summer 2008 Website

Community Development Department
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
101 Market Street, Mail Stop 640
San Francisco, CA 94105
www.frbsf.org
(415) 974-2765 / fax: (415)393-1920

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