Posts Tagged ‘Demolition’
Treasury announces how $2 billion for Hardest Hit Fund will be allocated
Today, Treasury announced how it will allocate the additional $2 billion dollars for the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) program approved by Congress last December. HHF funding will be allocated among participating States in two phases of $1 billion each. States have until December 31, 2020, to utilize funds, extended from the original deadline of…
Read MoreNew research finds investment in neighborhood stabilization pays off—and more is needed
“House prices have sufficiently recovered and foreclosure activities have sufficiently abated.” That was the faulty argument made this past July to support a U.S. Senate proposal that would have rescinded federal Hardest Hit Funds – a critical source of funding for neighborhood stabilization efforts in communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis – in order…
Read MoreHow Detroit Taught Itself to Demolish Vacant Houses Safely
Cross-posted from Next City, this article is one of a ten-part series inspired by the 2015 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference. “It kind of used to be like the Wild West a few years ago,” Regina Royan recalls, thinking back on how buildings were being demolished in Detroit prior to 2014. The old norms, she says, lacked oversight. “We realized…
Read MoreWhat does it take to eliminate blight? New framework offers a model
The City of Flint Planning Commission recently adopted Beyond Blight: City of Flint Blight Elimination Framework. With a five-year implementation timeline, the Framework uses an in-depth, data-driven approach that brings increased transparency and clarity to the City’s work — and, in so doing, it offers a model other cities can learn from. News release >> Framework summary…
Read MoreThe Next Frontier in Neighborhood Stabilization – The ReClaim Project
By Craig Nickerson, National Community Stabilization Trust and Rebecca Regan, Housing Partnership Network In numerous communities today, REO inventories are declining and overall foreclosure rates are at five-year lows; however, the importance of continuing the work of stabilizing hard hit neighborhoods is far from over. Many neighborhoods, often low- to moderate-income and multicultural communities, continue to…
Read MoreAdvice 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 inventory. The Cuyahoga Land Bank’s operations…
Read MoreHardest Hit Funds demolition policy change on track to become a boon for distressed communities
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. For an update on the latest round of Hardest Hit Fund allocations in April, 2016, click here. In February 2010, President Obama unveiled the Hardest Hit Fund, a…
Read MoreBreaking down deconstruction: What Detroit gained from dismantling instead of destroying
It might not be immediately obvious, but in the rubble and decay of vacant, dilapidated properties — those that are so far deteriorated, they’ve been slated for demolition — there is much value to be found. That’s where deconstruction comes into the picture. Deconstruction is the process of salvaging the structural components of a blighted…
Read MoreDemolition the right way: Using strategic demolition to revitalize communities
Though temperatures were in the low 40’s, spirits were high when I attended the 3rd Anniversary of the multifaceted Vacants to Value program in Baltimore last month. Over the past 3 years, Baltimore’s Vacants to Value (V2V) program has rehabbed 1,500 homes and demolished more than 700. Both blight reduction strategies were on display during the anniversary…
Read MoreCan we demolish our way to revitalization?
Originally posted on the National Housing Institute’s Rooflines blog While the answer to that question in the title of this piece is obvious, there’s a strong case to be made that a lot of the buildings that make up America’s older cities may have to go, if these cities are to find a path to…
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