Posts by Luke Telander
Breaking down deconstruction: What Detroit gained from dismantling instead of destroying
It might not be immediately obvious, but in the rubble and decay of vacant, dilapidated properties — those that are so far deteriorated, they’ve been slated for demolition — there is much value to be found. That’s where deconstruction comes into the picture. Deconstruction is the process of salvaging the structural components of a blighted…
Read MoreTwo and a half years in, land banking takes shape in New York State
(Learn more about what New York”s land banks are up to in the new report, “New York State Land Banks: Combating Blight and Vacancy in New York Communities.”) The house at 257 S. Collingwood Avenue is no longer abandoned. Last December, the Greater Syracuse Land Bank sold it to Shaqir and Zahide Halimi, Kosovar immigrants…
Read MoreEight cities selected for the 2014 Community Progress Leadership Institute
Following a competitive application process, we’re excited to introduce the eight cities selected to join the 2014 Community Progress Leadership Institute (CPLI)! CPLI is our one-of-a-kind training program focused on equipping leaders with the skills they need to transform large inventories of blighted and vacant properties into community assets. (Curious? More info about CPLI.) Delegations of up to seven people from…
Read MoreHow the garden grows: A Q&A with Mark Covington
In our recent report, Placemaking in Legacy Cities: Opportunities and Good Practices, we share the story of Mark Covington, who, through his passion and hard work, was able to create the vibrant Georgia Street Community Collective on formerly vacant lots in Detroit. His story of how he was able to turn his passion for bettering his community…
Read MoreIt takes a village…to make a place: Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo
Our new report, Placemaking in Legacy Cities: Opportunities and Good Practices, uses case studies to examine how placemaking can be used in Legacy Cities. Below, we share an excerpt from the report. Learn how one Buffalo resident’s morning run ended up sending him down the path of helping to form a vibrant neighborhood association: So, it was…
Read MoreInterview with the authors: An inside look at “Placemaking in Legacy Cities”
We recently released Placemaking in Legacy Cities: Opportunities and Good Practices, which explores how residents and leaders in Legacy Cities have used placemaking principles to transform blighted public spaces into revitalized community assets. In celebration of the report, prepared for the Center for Community Progress by New Solutions Group, LLC, I spoke with Francis Grunow and Sarah Szurpicki, two…
Read MoreDemolition the right way: Using strategic demolition to revitalize communities
Though temperatures were in the low 40’s, spirits were high when I attended the 3rd Anniversary of the multifaceted Vacants to Value program in Baltimore last month. Over the past 3 years, Baltimore’s Vacants to Value (V2V) program has rehabbed 1,500 homes and demolished more than 700. Both blight reduction strategies were on display during the anniversary…
Read MoreCommunity Progress’ Kim Graziani and PACDC’s Rick Sauer talk Philly Land Bank on WHYY
“Will Philadelphia create a land bank, and how would it be most effective and equitable?” This was the question of the hour as Kim Graziani, Vice President of Capacity Building at Community Progress, and Rick Sauer, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC) joined the Committee of Seventy’s Ellen Mattleman Kaplan…
Read MoreI Wish This Were a ______: A community re-imagines a blighted building in Lansing
Some chalkboard paint and a bucket of chalk turned a vacant eyesore into a canvas of possibilities in Lansing, Michigan’s Urbandale neighborhood. The abandoned, crumbling Paro Party Store had been a blight on Lansing’s East side for years. “I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat to have a co-op grocery store with local foods?’”…
Read MoreHistoric blight blitz is now underway in Flint, Saginaw
A historic new ‘blight blitz’ is now underway in Michigan, constituting the largest blight removal program in the state’s history. Both the state and the nation have a renewed interest in promoting urban revitalization in Michigan through thoughtfully attending to the state’s vacant, abandoned, and problem properties. Last week, the cities of Flint and Saginaw…
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