Problem

Aerial view overlooking landscaping on April 4, 2015 in San Diego, California.  Photo: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

by Sarah Ferris and Peter Sullivan - April 25, 2016

The United States is on the verge of a national crisis that could mean the end of clean, cheap water.

Hundreds of cities and towns are at risk of sudden and severe shortages, either because available water is not safe to drink or because there simply isn’t enough of it.

The situation has grown so dire the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence now ranks water scarcity as a major threat to national security alongside terrorism.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Philadelphia is famous for its many murals that capture the city's history and spirit, like this one by artist Carl Willis Humphrey honoring W.E.B. Du Bois. The image is painted on the wall of a historical African-American firehouse. Du Bois was a founder of the NAACP and was commissioned in 1896 to survey African-Americans living in the city's Seventh Ward as part of a study on race, The Philadelphia Negro. He is depicted with a census in hand. Photo by Shrub75/Flickr

The city is home to more than 40,000 vacant properties. Now neighborhoods are hoping a new public entity can help them bounce back from the post-industrial blues.

yesmagazine.org - by Jake Blumgart - December 27, 2013

Blighted properties drain public coffers, contribute nothing to the tax base, and serve as havens for crime and trash. After years of work . . . activists hope that a bill passed this December will finally provide Philadelphians with a tool to confront this colossal problem: a land bank.