Posts by Charles Linton
Resources for Community Revitalization Leaders Adapting to Climate Change
A list of evidence-backed tools you can use to learn and think about community revitalization and climate adaptation for your community.
Read MoreCommunity Progress Calls on FHA to Improve Access to Rehab Mortgages
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. You can read our full…
Read MoreRevitalizing Neighborhoods: How Creative Placemaking Transforms Vacant Properties into Vibrant Community Spaces
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 are the essential elements of…
Read MoreLeaders in Land Banking: A Conversation with the Directors of the Savannah-Chatham Land Bank Authority and Omaha Municipal Land Bank
We sat down with Alison Goldey, director of the Chatham County/City of Savannah Land Bank Authority, and Leslie Smith, director of the Omaha Municipal Land Bank, to talk about the challenges land bank leaders share and the experience of adapting to running a land bank in a new city. Thank you both for taking the…
Read MoreNew Report on Ten Years of Land Banking in New York Offers Compelling Metrics of Success, Useful Lessons, and a Lot of Inspiration
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 MoreDelinquent Property Tax Enforcement Could Be the Missing Piece in Fighting Vacant Properties
A well-designed delinquent tax enforcement system can help communities return properties to productive use.
Read MoreThe Community-led Effort to Address Vacant and Abandoned Properties in St. Louis County, Missouri
St. Louis County needed a county-wide land bank to work with local communities and partners to help return vacant and abandoned properties to productive use. But breaking the cycle of vacancy requires a comprehensive approach.
Read MoreLeaders in Land Banking: A Conversation with Adam Zaranko at the Albany County Land Bank
We spoke with the Albany County Land Bank Corporation’s Executive Director Adam Zaranko about affordable housing initiatives, the importance of diversified partnerships, and what’s coming up for the land bank in 2023. The Albany County Land Bank recently launched an innovative program to turn vacant properties into affordable housing opportunities. Can you give our readers…
Read MoreFrom Harm to Home: Replicating Detroit’s Make it Home Program
The City of Detroit’s innovative Make it Home program harnesses the power of the traditionally harmful property tax foreclosure process and uses it to increase affordable homeownership, improve housing conditions, and stabilize neighborhoods.
Read MoreResident Engagement in Vacant Lot Greening: Empowering Communities for Neighborhood Revitalization
This is an excerpt of Chapter 11 of Tackling Vacancy and Abandonment: Strategies and Impacts After the Great Recession, jointly produced by the Center for Community Progress, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. It has been lightly edited and condensed for the web. In this chapter, Laney A.…
Read More