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Our blog unpacks complex approaches to community revitalization so you feel ready to return vacant properties to productive use. Sign up for our newsletter to get solutions in your inbox.

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How the Cuyahoga Land Bank is helping refugees “Discover Home”
December 18, 2014
How the Cuyahoga Land Bank is helping refugees “Discover Home”

Land banks can work in concert with a whole host of private, public, and nonprofit partners, using those creative partnerships to help the communities they serve. An…

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Easy as A-B-C: The Chautauqua acquisition model
December 17, 2014
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…

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Omaha Habitat honors Community Progress with Nebraska leaders
December 15, 2014
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,…

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What does a successful land bank look like?
December 10, 2014
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….

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Do Urban Neighborhoods Need Homeowners?
December 9, 2014
Do Urban Neighborhoods Need Homeowners?

Originally posted on the National Housing Institute’s Rooflines blog At a conference I attended last week, one of the speakers, a colleague whose judgment and knowledge I…

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How Marquette County Land Bank took on property at an abandoned air force base
December 2, 2014
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…

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Advice for land banks from Cuyahoga Land Bank’s Gus Frangos
November 24, 2014
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…

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Justin Godard comes on board with the National Leadership and Education team
November 21, 2014
Justin Godard comes on board with the National Leadership and Education team

We are pleased to welcome Justin Godard as a program associate on the National Leadership and Education team at Community Progress. Here’s what he has to say about coming on…

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Louisiana passes ballot initiative to return properties to the tax rolls faster
November 12, 2014
Louisiana passes ballot initiative to return properties to the tax rolls faster

Election Day was a noisy affair: big headlines, big news stories, and a deluge of television coverage, focused mainly on federal elections. Flying mostly below the radar,…

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Strengthening communities through veteran homeownership in Cuyahoga County
November 11, 2014
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…

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Proposed Housing Legislation in the 119th Congress: What Land Banks Need to Know

Guidance for land banks on emerging housing legislation moving through Congress.

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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

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

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What are Proactive Rental Inspection Programs?: Keeping Homes Occupied and Communities Healthy

Proactive rental inspection programs shift code enforcement from reactive to strategic, identifying health hazards like lead paint, mold, and broken heating before they harm tenants or push properties toward vacancy. Learn how local governments design effective programs, with examples from cities across the country.

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How Land Banks Can Address Brownfields: Case Studies

Land banks are well-positioned to engage in brownfield redevelopment. As public entities with unique powers to address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties, land banks can help communities return these properties to productive use in alignment with community goals. A growing number of communities across the country are seeing land banks…

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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 Better Data Helps Communities Address Vacancy

What data sources you should be looking at if you’re interested in understanding, tracking, and solving property vacancy in your community.

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Tips for a Successful Session Proposal for the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference

How to write a session proposal for the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference that will get noticed.

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How a New Jersey Land Bank is Converting Vacant Properties into Homes for Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Holders

Learn how Newark, New Jersey is leveraging an underutilized HCV provision to make homeownership a reality for low-income residents.

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How Philanthropy Powers Land Bank Success 

Examples of how philanthropic partnerships have helped land banks launch new programs to revitalize communities.

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