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Community Revitalization

Aaron Sukenik on Sustaining Storefront Activation in Downtown Pittsburgh: An RVP Speaker Spotlight
Aaron Sukenik on Sustaining Storefront Activation in Downtown Pittsburgh: An RVP Speaker Spotlight

We asked one of our speakers to preview his walking tour at the 2026 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference, and what you’ll learn by attending.

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Get Ready for the ROAD to Housing Act: Steps to Take Before Accessing New Housing Funds
Get Ready for the ROAD to Housing Act: Steps to Take Before Accessing New Housing Funds

What the ROAD to Housing Act contains relating to community revitalization and vacant property reuse.

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How Vacant and Abandoned Buildings Affect Communities
How Vacant and Abandoned Buildings Affect Communities

Learn how vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties—referred to by some as “blighted properties”—pose significant costs to public health, property values, and local taxpayers.

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How Land Banks and Under-Resourced Developers Can Collaborate to Build Affordable Housing
How Land Banks and Under-Resourced Developers Can Collaborate to Build Affordable Housing

Ways that land banks and under-resourced developers can collaborate to build green, affordable infill housing.

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Why Home Repair Programs Are Essential for Preventing Property Vacancy and Abandonment
Why Home Repair Programs Are Essential for Preventing Property Vacancy and Abandonment

Home repair is a core strategy to stop properties from becoming vacant in the first place.

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How to Explain Vacant Property Work: A Plain Language Guide
How to Explain Vacant Property Work: A Plain Language Guide

Talking about community revitalization is hard. Here’s some ways to explain vacancy when people don’t understand your work.

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What to Know About the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act in 2025
What to Know About the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act in 2025

NHIA would create a new federal tax credit to support construction or rehabilitation of single-family homes in distressed communities.

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RVP 2024: Philanthropy and Community Revitalization
RVP 2024: Philanthropy and Community Revitalization

With the 2024 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference (RVP) kicking off in St. Louis this week, Community Progress took a moment to ask three of our top sponsors—JPMorganChase, Missouri Foundation for Health, and Wells Fargo Foundation—what they were looking forward to at the event, and how philanthropy plays a critical role…

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FHA Updates 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program to Increase Accessibility
FHA Updates 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program to Increase Accessibility

Revisions to the 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program aim to make it more accessible and effective and increase the number of 203(k) consultants.

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Why Heirs’ Property is a Problem for Vacancy and Abandonment
Why 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…

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A Pioneering Approach to Bring a Legacy of Quality, Affordable Housing to Communities

Communities nationwide struggle with inventories of properties that are causing harm—properties that are vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD). Often these properties are concentrated in areas where an intentional history of racist policies resulted in disinvestment and denied homeownership for many Black families—a loss of wealth that has compounded across several generations.   The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these racial disparities and community…

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New Research Publication Launched: Tackling Vacancy and Abandonment: Strategies and Impacts after the Great Recession

WASHINGTON, D.C. –   Center for Community Progress announces the launch of Tackling Vacancy and Abandonment: Strategies and Impacts after the Great Recession, a research publication jointly produced with the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Cleveland. Community Progress is America’s leading nonprofit resource for urban, suburban, and rural communities seeking to equitably address the full…

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Community Progress Weighs in on $350 Billion ARPA State and Local Recovery Fund

Center for Community Progress recently submitted a public comment letter in response to the Treasury Department’s Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) implementing the American Rescue Plan Act’s (“ARPA”) $350 billion State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (“SLFRF”). The public comment period is open through Friday, July 16, 2021, and public comments…

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Michigan Initiatives Quarterly Update: April – June 2021

This quarterly update from Community Progress’ Michigan Initiatives team highlights important revitalization news and resources from across the state. For specific inquiries or to share how your community is addressing vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties in Michigan, email Payton Heins, Director of Michigan Initiatives at [email protected].

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American Rescue Plan Act Update: Treasury Guidance and Fund Request Portal, and Our Updated ARPA Map Resource, Are Now Live!

Important Update: Since publication of this blog on May 18, 2021, Treasury has released additional guidance with specific details for how non-entitlement unit of government allocations should be processed by States. This additional NEU guidance can be found at this Treasury webpage, along with other helpful information.  Center for Community Progress has been closely following…

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An Unprecedented Opportunity for COVID Relief and Equitable Neighborhood Transformation

While the US is gaining ground in its fight against COVID-19, many communities are facing growing threats to neighborhood stability from its economic fallout. Unprecedented help is on the horizon for these communities, which could provide a momentous opportunity to spur equitable revitalization.   Where we are today  While the national unemployment rate has been dropping, [1] it…

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New Paper by Alan Mallach – Making the Comeback: Reversing the Downward Trajectory of Black Middle Neighborhoods in Legacy Cities

In city after city, the Black middle neighborhoods face the most significant challenges and have seen the sharpest declines across the country when compared to other middle neighborhoods. Black middle neighborhoods lead in the struggle to receive public help, programs, amenities, and more. In a new paper, Making the Comeback:…

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Local Leaders Need to Know: $360 Billion in State and Local Relief Is Coming to Every American Community

Almost exactly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, a massive relief plan has passed both chambers of Congress and been signed into law by President Biden. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is an historic achievement that will provide unprecedented resources to combat the health, economic, and racial…

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Land Bank and Land Trust Leaders Express Support for Proposed $5 Billion to Revitalize Communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 4, 2021 — Today, the Center for Community Progress (Community Progress) and Grounded Solutions Network (Grounded Solutions) expressed their support of new legislation that would invest $5 billion in flexible federal funding for distressed communities nationwide. The Restoring Communities Left Behind Act was introduced in the House of…

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Land Bank and Land Trust Leaders Express Support for Proposed $5 Billion to Revitalize Communities

Restoring Communities Left Behind Act Receives Support from Community Progress and Grounded Solutions Leaders WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 4, 2021 — Today, the Center for Community Progress (Community Progress) and Grounded Solutions Network (Grounded Solutions) expressed their support of new legislation that would invest $5 billion in flexible federal funding…

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