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Creative Placemaking in Braddock, Pennsylvania
July 31, 2023
Creative Placemaking in Braddock, Pennsylvania

Community leaders in Braddock, North Braddock, and East Pittsburgh are creatively reactivating vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

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Lessons from 2023 VAD Academy: Systemic Racism is a Root Cause of Vacant Properties
July 20, 2023
Lessons from 2023 VAD Academy: Systemic Racism is a Root Cause of Vacant Properties

The key lesson from this year’s VAD Academy: systemic racism is a root cause of vacant, abandoned, deteriorated properties.

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Creación de espacios creativos en Loíza (Puerto Rico)
June 22, 2023
Creación de espacios creativos en Loíza (Puerto Rico)

A principios de marzo, los cohortes de la Beca de Revitalización Comunitaria (CRF) 2022-23 viajaron a Loíza, Puerto Rico, para su segundo intercambio de aprendizaje. Estos intercambios…

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Creative Placemaking in Loíza, Puerto Rico
June 22, 2023
Creative Placemaking in Loíza, Puerto Rico

As part of the Community Revitalization Fellowship, fellows from Loíza, Puerto Rico shared the creative placemaking working happening in their community.

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What Causes “Urban Prairies” in Shrinking Cities?
June 13, 2023
What Causes “Urban Prairies” in Shrinking Cities?

As cities shrink, once-urban land becomes available for other uses or reverts to nature, leading to the phenomenon of “urban prairies.”

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Resources for Community Revitalization Leaders Adapting to Climate Change
June 2, 2023
Resources for Community Revitalization Leaders Adapting to Climate Change

A list of evidence-backed tools you can use to learn and think about community revitalization and climate adaptation for your community.

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What Tyler v. Hennepin County Means for the Future of Property Tax Foreclosure Systems Across the Country
May 26, 2023
What Tyler v. Hennepin County Means for the Future of Property Tax Foreclosure Systems Across the Country

The SCOTUS decision opens up an opportunity for all states to redesign their property tax systems from beginning to end.

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Community Progress Calls on FHA to Improve Access to Rehab Mortgages
May 25, 2023
Community Progress Calls on FHA to Improve Access to Rehab Mortgages

On April 17, 2023, the Center for Community Progress submitted a response to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Rehabilitation Mortgages. A rehabilitation…

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What Is Creative Placemaking?
May 18, 2023
What Is Creative Placemaking?

Creative placemaking is the practice of enhancing a neighborhood’s quality of life through arts, culture, and intentional community development. This practice can take many forms, like visual…

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Using Vacant Properties for a Climate Resilient Future
May 11, 2023
Using Vacant Properties for a Climate Resilient Future

Discover how vacant properties can be transformed into climate-resilient assets. Exploring strategies for urban heat, stormwater management, and more.

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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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How Land Banks are Reusing Vacant Land to Build Climate Resilience

Examples of how land banks are transforming vacant land into climate resilience assets through flood mitigation, greening, and partnerships.

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Why You Should Attend the NLBN Summit—Even if You Don’t Work at a Land Bank

The NLBN Summit is your chance to better understand how land banks work and how they can support your goals around developing housing, reusing vacant land, and helping neighborhoods bounce back from economic decline.

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The Basics of Brownfield Redevelopment: Finding and Assessing Brownfields

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

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How Opportunity Zones 2.0 Can Leverage Existing Vacant Property Inventories

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

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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.

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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.

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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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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.

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To Prevent Illegal Dumping, You Have to Know the Scale of the Problem

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

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