Blog

June 19, 2017

From the Board Chair: Welcome to our new President and CEO

Dear Community Progress friends, It is with great pleasure that I share with you that Akilah Watkins-Butler will be joining the Center for Community Progress as its…

May 23, 2017

Five years in, New York’s land bank movement offers lessons for national field

It was September 2013, and I was in a conference room somewhere in the City of Syracuse with about twenty other individuals from across New York State…

April 18, 2017

Learning from Baltimore’s Vacants to Value: Part III

One can learn a lot about tackling abandoned properties from Baltimore’s Vacants to Value. However successful it’s been, at getting abandoned properties back into use, though, there…

April 12, 2017

Learning from Baltimore’s Vacants to Value: Part II

In my first post on this theme, I wrote about the thinking behind Baltimore’s highly successful effort to get private developers and property owners to rehabilitate vacant properties…

April 11, 2017

Learning from Baltimore’s Vacants to Value: Part I

In 2010, the City of Baltimore kicked off an ambitious effort to address its vacant property challenges, an effort it called Vacants to Value (V2V). After five…

March 7, 2017

President’s Corner: Announcing next steps with gratitude for the past five years

Community Progress Friends: I write today to share the bittersweet news that I will be leaving Community Progress in the summer of 2017 to relocate abroad with…

March 7, 2017

From the Board Chair: Announcing a leadership transition at Community Progress

Dear Friends of Community Progress, It is with mixed emotions that I write, on behalf of the Board of Directors, to share with you the decision of…

February 15, 2017

You really #LoveThatLot! Highlights from the 2017 campaign

Through this year’s #LoveThatLot campaign, hundreds of people held in-person celebrations and shared photos of revitalization projects across the country. You shared your love for vacant lots transformed into farms, gas stations…

January 27, 2017

Remembering Ray Pianka

Raymond L. Pianka, judge of Cleveland’s Housing Court, died suddenly at the age of 65 early Sunday morning, January 22. As the city’s housing court judge for…

January 24, 2017

#LoveThatLot: Show your love for revitalization projects!

Update: Curious about the 2018 #LoveThatLot campaign? Learn how to get involved! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! Why not celebrate it by sending Valentine love…

Brownfield redevelopment reclaims the potential of underutilized properties, improves a neighborhood’s health and wellbeing, and can spark community revitalization.

Ideas for Opportunity Zones 2.0 to leverage existing vacant properties in distressed communities, with land bank support.

What is a Land Bank?

A land bank is a public entity with unique powers to put vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties back to productive use according to community goals.

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.

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

How to Buy Property From a Land Bank

Find a land bank near you and make sure you understand what makes them different from traditional real estate sellers.

How to conduct a neighborhood survey to assess the scale of illegal dumping and prioritize city resources for cleanup and prevention.

Five examples of creative approaches land banks have taken to addressing vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

Grassroots community leaders from Lafayette, Memphis, and Rochester share their stories and motivations for community revitalization.

In 2024, Community Progress doubled down on its commitment to helping local governments use code enforcement to address VAD properties.

Filter by Date

Topics