Posts by Community Progress
Celebrating Legislative Wins to Combat Vacancy in Missouri and Alabama
Effective legislation is a vital piece of equipping state and local governments to effectively address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties (VAD). Through our Land Bank Incubator Scholarship Program, over the last three years Community Progress has been honored to support local efforts to craft and advance these pieces of legislation. This year, legislative sessions in…
Read MoreMourning Gus Frangos (1954 – 2024)
It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the passing of Gus Frangos, Founder and President of the Cuyahoga Land Bank.
Read MoreHow to Convince Your Boss to Send You to the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference
So you want to attend the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference (RVP). It sounds awesome, right? Three days of networking, learning relevant skills, and seeing real-life examples of neighborhood revitalization up close. But your boss needs some convincing. After all, you’ll have to be away from your day job and spend money on travel and conference…
Read MoreWhy Heirs’ Property is a Problem for Vacancy and Abandonment
To address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties, local governments must first identify what types of VAD properties exist in the community. Some properties are abandoned with no mortgage and near tax foreclosure. Some fall into disrepair during a long mortgage foreclosure process. In other cases, a property owner may die without a will, passing…
Read MoreWhat is a Brownfield?
Brownfield properties, often referred to as “brownfields,” are properties where the presence or potential presence of hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant makes redevelopment challenging and costly.
Read MoreWhat is the Neighborhood Revitalization and Land Banking Act?
The bipartisan bill is an important step in giving rural, urban, and suburban communities the tools to address “blighted” properties. The key focus of the bill is providing support to land banks, a tool many communities are adopting to support economic and neighborhood revitalization.
Read MoreThe Problem with Calling Neighborhoods with Vacant Properties “Blighted”
Blight is a shorthand term many people use to refer to properties they perceive as problematic in some way.
Read MoreHow Vacant and Abandoned Buildings Affect the Community
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 MoreWhat Can Neighbors Do about Vacant Buildings and Lots?
When neighbors come together, they can be a powerful voice for community revitalization.
Read MoreWhat is Code Enforcement?
Code enforcement from A to Z: when it works, when it doesn’t, and how local governments can make code enforcement systems more fair for all.
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