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Land Banks

For neighborhoods burdened by systemic disinvestment; vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties often become symbols of neglect. They pose social, economic, health, and environmental hazards to communities and residents. Addressing these properties requires intervention at multiple points and systems—and one powerful tool many communities use to address vacancy and promote equitable…

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….

A Conversation with Crystal Loffler, President of the Office of Community Renewal

We sat down with Crystal Loffler, President of the Office of Community Renewal at New York State Homes & Community Renewal, to talk about unique and flexible funding opportunities available to land banks in New York State and what other entities can learn from her work. Can you share a…

What 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.

What 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.

The 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.

How 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.

What’s the Deal with Rural Land Banks? A Q&A with West Virginia Land Stewardship Corporation Executive Director Taylor Bennett

Land banks can help rural communities deal with vacant, abandoned, and dilapidated properties.

New Study Shows Land Bank Ownership of Vacant Lots Can Reduce Violent Crime

A vacant lot owned and cared for by a land bank sees a greater decrease in crime compared to privately owned lots, finds 2023 study in Flint, MI.

2023 Year in Review: National Land Bank Network

Some highlights from National Land Bank Network and the land banking field in 2023.

Easy as A-B-C: The Chautauqua acquisition model

How should a land bank decide which properties to acquire? Researching our recent national land bank report confirmed it’s a major question that virtually all land banks grapple with. In Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are Strengthening America’s Neighborhoods, we found that “though the majority of land…

Omaha Habitat honors Community Progress with Nebraska leaders

There is much to celebrate in Omaha. Over the past year, the State of Nebraska passed a land bank statute, and a diverse group of businesses, nonprofits, community leaders, and elected officials in Omaha came together to champion the passage of the Omaha municipal land bank ordinance, creating the first…

What does a successful land bank look like?

What does a successful land bank look like? It’s one of the questions our new report, Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are Strengthening America’s Neighborhoods, explores. Based on our research, there are a number of common characteristics critical to successful land banking. The following is a breakdown of these…

How Marquette County Land Bank took on property at an abandoned air force base

Land banks can be useful in communities of all sizes. While land banking has been established as an important tool in the urban revitalization toolbox, our new report, Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are Strengthening America’s Neighborhoods, also shows how land banking works in more rural areas….

Advice for land banks from Cuyahoga Land Bank’s Gus Frangos

Our new report, Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are Strengthening America’s Neighborhoods, takes an in-depth look at how the Cuyahoga Land Bank serves the community in and around Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 2009, has nearly 30 staff members and, as of March 2014, had more than 1,150 properties in its…

Strengthening communities through veteran homeownership in Cuyahoga County

(Stay tuned for more information on the Homefront Veterans Home Ownership Program and much more about land banking in our new report, “Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are Strengthening America’s Neighborhoods,” coming out next Tuesday. Subscribe to our email list to receive notice when the report is available.)…

New York Attorney General announces $20M in land bank funding

The New York Attorney General announced yesterday that he is allocating $20 million to be awarded to land banks across the State. This is the second year that the Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has allocated funding for land banking, bringing the total financial commitment up to $33 million. The press conference was held in Syracuse…

New York’s land banks report statewide progress

Today, the New York Land Bank Association (NYLBA) released New York State Land Banks: Combating Blight and Vacancy in New York Communities, a report on the early accomplishments of the state’s first nine land banks over the last two years. It’s the first publication to be released by NYLBA, a statewide…

Flint’s framework for the future

This article was originally published in the Summer 2014 issue of Breaking Ground, our quarterly newsletter. To receive Breaking Ground in your inbox, please join our email list. It might go without saying, but the City of Flint in 2014 is very different from the Flint of 1960. Decades of…

Building a movement: Michigan Land Bank Leadership Summit

“You’re going to be the vanguard for what will become a movement across the nation.” That was the call to action George McCarthy issued during a keynote address to the nearly 100 attendees at the Michigan Land Bank Leadership Summit (MLBLS), who represented over 30 counties throughout the State of…

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