Blog
Community Progress regularly posts to this blog on a range of related topics to help communities across the country turn vacant spaces into vibrant places. Please check back regularly, and sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news directly in your inbox.
Filter by Date
Topics
The SCOTUS decision opens up an opportunity for all states to redesign their property tax systems from beginning to end.
Read More »On April 17, 2023, the Center for Community Progress submitted a response to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Rehabilitation Mortgages. A rehabilitation mortgage, often called a rehab mortgage, is designed to help homeowners improve their existing home or buy a home needing repair or renovation….
Read More »Creative placemaking is the practice of enhancing a neighborhood’s quality of life through arts, culture, and intentional community development. This practice can take many forms, like visual art installations, performance events, developing permanent brick-and-mortar spaces, and more. These creative approaches to addressing community challenges often include repurposing vacant properties. What…
Read More »Discover how vacant properties can be transformed into climate-resilient assets. Exploring strategies for urban heat, stormwater management, and more.
Read More »Director of the Chatham County/City of Savannah Land Bank Authority Alison Goldey and Director of the Omaha Municipal Land Bank Leslie Smith talk challenges of land bank leadership and adapting to running a land bank in a new city.
Read More »Learn what a land bank is, how it works, how to buy vacant property from a land bank, and if any land banks serve your community.
Read More »Representing Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the Tri-COG land bank has had enormous success in its first five years of operation.
Read More »Picture a neighborhood with numerous run-down homes, vacant lots, and boarded-up buildings, grounds or structure overgrown with vegetation. What word comes to mind to describe those conditions? For many, that word is “blight.” Blight is a shorthand term many people use to refer to properties they perceive as problematic in…
Read More »Vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties—referred to by some as “blighted properties”—pose significant costs to public health, property values, local taxpayers, and more.
Read More »Ten year of land banking in New York shows that when granted sufficient legal powers, backed by adequate public sector funding, and led by thoughtful, entrepreneurial practitioners, land banks can help interrupt the cycle of disinvestment.
Read More »