Blueprint Archives

In our cover story this month, staff writer Mark Olshaker interviews the leaders of the various tax credit coalitions on advocacy plans in the face of potential tax reform. (Defending the Forts).

One of the primary roles of the President of the United States is encouraging and overseeing creation. Nations have problems and we elect a head of state to find solutions.

Transitions are times of anxiety and uncertainty. We know what we have, but we don’t know what we are going to get. Patience is probably the best antidote. It is difficult to anticipate outcomes. But that is not going to stop us.

During the past couple of years, we have reported frequently in these pages on the evolution of the relationship between housing and healthcare.

In this issue, you will find detailed reporting on everything mentioned above from that informative day in Boston. NH&RA’s Fall Forum was the concert. This issue is the album.

You read it right. That’s $7,000,000,000. Seven Billion. It’s the value of the New Markets Tax Credits allocated by the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to 120 Community Development Entities in 36 states to develop businesses and improve lives in underserved communities.

By the time you read this, we will have elected a new President.

History is au courant. Not old history; new history. “Game of Thrones” wins the Emmy, “Spotlight” wins the Oscar and “Hamilton” wins the Tony. And what they all share is a fresh look at history through a contemporary prism. Kind of like an old building rehabbed for contemporary usage. Right?

The flames glowing along the Providence River you see on this month’s cover are part of an event called WaterFire, that began as an artistic installation and has grown into an annual Rhode Island arts festival and celebration. When the photos of this event were presented at the NH&RA Summer Institute, I immediately decided this would be our next cover

The memories of our childhoods are quaint and fond. Vinyl records, vanilla Carvel and Vin Scully. The Little Rascals and the Young Rascals. Milk delivered to our home in the morning, the newspaper on the lawn in the afternoon, and the doctor examining us in our own bedroom. Dr. Brown was her name. (Yes, she was a she…and yes, this was in the early ‘50s.)

I know that on your summer vacation you usually like to get away from thinking about work and bury yourself in a romance or mystery. But I’m afraid what we are offering you this July is going to be too tantalizing for you to escape. You might associate summer reading with fluff, but this issue is packed with a lot of red meat.

Hope this month’s cover got your attention. And if you’ve arrived at this page, I guess it did. When I find myself waiting in the checkout line at Safeway with nothing to do but stare at all the celebrities on the magazine covers, I’m envious that the editors of those publications can depend on famous faces to lure you inside.