Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities

Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities is a nonprofit social science research firm. We provide multi-disciplinary technical analysis of public data in the areas of economic development, fair housing, education, environmental justice, equitable land use, and others. We work with other nonprofits, community organizations, neighborhood and community leaders, economic development agencies, attorneys, and government agencies to support the development and survival of diverse, prosperous, and self-reliant communities in Orange County, in North Carolina, and across the nation.

Learn more about us here.

Honors, Awards and Victories

Cedar Grove Institute Receives Fair Housing Advocacy Award

The Stella J. Adams Fair Housing Advocate Award is presented annually by the Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina to a deserving individual or organization in recognition of their work and commitment to the fair housing and civil rights of North Carolinians. The 2018 Award was presented to the Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, Inc.

Cedar Grove Institute's Founders Featured in the Nov/Dec. 2018 UNC-Chapel Hill Carolina Alumni Review

Click here to read the article.

"Victory!" Ridgeland, Mississippi Reverses Expulsive Racial Zoning.

"While zoning is the primary responsibility of local government, it cannot be used as a vehicle for discriminating against minority families through a campaign of depopulation," said Gustavo Velasquez, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

For more information on the case, see The Mississippi Business Journal, The Wall Street Journal and Jackson Free Press articles and HUD's settlement announcement and agreement.

Cedar Grove founders honored as Tar Heels of the Week

Click here to learn more.

Congratulations to Inclusive Communities Project of Dallas, Texas and their attorneys, Mike Daniel and Laura Bashara!

We are so proud to have played a role in this case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the principal of disparate impact. CGISC's vice president, Dr. Allan M. Parnell, served as an expert witness in the case and provided research which showed that the actions by the state of Texas had a disparate and negative impact upon minorities.

The Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Office of Civil Rights released this statement today (6/25/2015):

Supreme Court Issues Decision in Fair Housing Case

Today, the Supreme Court released its decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, and held that disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act. In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Kennedy, the Court concluded that recognition of disparate impact claims is consistent with the Fair Housing Act's "results-oriented language, the Court's interpretation of similar language in Title VII and [the Age Discrimination in Employment Act], Congress' ratification of disparate-impact claims in 1988 against the backdrop of the unanimous view of nine Courts of Appeals, and the statutory purpose." Read the opinion here.

For what it means for affordable housing and to towns and counties across the nation, the New York Times explains.

What Does The Supreme Court's Fair Housing Decision Mean For North Carolina?

Listen below to WUNC-FM host Frank Stasio and a a panel of experts, including Cedar Grove Institute's Vice President, Allan Parnell.

Or download the interview. (Right click and select Save Link As... to download)

Cedar Grove Expert Witness in Successful Inclusive Communities Lawsuit: "Judge Finds Discrimination at Texas Housing Agency" March, 2012.

"...the nonprofit Inclusive Communities Project [alleged] that the TDHCA staff and board used its power over development subsidies to push low-income housing on minority neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty and crime." — Rudolph Bush, Dallas Morning News, March 20, 2012.

"Although the ruling came in response to a 2008 lawsuit that focused on Dallas, it could potentially have a sweeping impact on how the state runs the program, which will disperse about $55 million in tax credits this year." — Karisa King, San Antonio Express-News, March 20, 2012. Follow link

Smart Planet Tech Blog Features Cedar Grove: "GIS tools map social injustice in civil rights cases"

"This is where technology meets the challenges of the real world. It's a great example of digital data used as a catalyst for action." — Mari Silbey. July 12, 2012. Follow link

Advocacy

Cedar Grove Urges Congressional Leadership to Continue Funding the American Community Survey

"The ACS is the only source of objective, consistent, and comprehensive information about the nations social, economic, and demographic characteristics down to the neighborhood level. The federal government alone allocates more than $450 billion annually in program funds to state and local governments based in whole or in part on ACS data....The importance of high-quality, objective, and universal ACS data for public and private sector decision-makers cannot be overstated.... [B]usinesses of all sizes rely on ACS data every day to make vital decisions about where to locate and expand, what goods and services to offer, the scope of employee training needed, and long term investment opportunities. Nonprofit organizations use the ACS to guide services to those most in need and to measure the success of their programs.... We should not jeopardize the fair and wise allocation of limited taxpayer dollars by undermining the only source of reliable data to guide those allocations." Read more