Posts Tagged ‘land bank’
Bringing Michigan’s land bank leaders together in rural Marquette County
Land bank leaders gathered in Marquette, Michigan, last month, on June 13-14th, for the third annual Michigan Land Bank Leadership Summit. The event drew over 40 participants, representing over 20 land banks. This year, the Michigan Association of Land Banks also invited participants from counties interested in starting a land bank to join the discussion…
Read MoreCharting a new way forward through attorney-practitioner partnerships: Part I—Syracuse
This is the first in a two-part series exploring how strong working partnerships between practitioners and attorneys can give rise to innovation in the work to reclaim and revitalize blighted properties. After reading below, check out Part II —Milwaukee right here >> “Lawyers can paralyze you for sure. They’ll scare you to death,” says John Sidd, an…
Read MoreThree communities selected for the Technical Assistance Scholarship Program
Community Progress launched the competitive Technical Assistance Scholarship Program (TASP) in 2014, to help us find and support today’s pioneers in the work to reclaim and revitalize problem properties. TASP seeks out “changemakers” who are ready to effect positive change on the ground and shape the national field of practice. Today, we’re pleased to announce…
Read MoreBaltimore and Detroit get aggressive with nuisance properties
Cross-posted from Next City, this article is one of a ten-part series inspired by the 2015 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference. With a staggering 84,000-plus 90,000 vacant properties — nearly a quarter of all properties in the city — Detroit is dealing with blight on a scale unknown anywhere else in the country. Baltimore, a much…
Read MoreThe state of land banks in 2015: An interview with Frank Alexander
The second edition of Land Banks and Land Banking, the ground-breaking book by Frank S. Alexander, was released earlier this month. It builds on the legacy of the 2011 first edition with fresh insights and resources for practitioners and policy-makers. With about 120 land banks and land banking programs now located around the country, we spoke with…
Read MoreToday’s land bank boom could lead to the extinction of land banks
Cross-posted from Next City, this article is one of a ten-part series inspired by the 2015 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference. Frank Alexander wasn’t expecting his book, Land Banks and Land Banking, to wind up so big. “In 2010, when we created the Center for Community Progress one of the reasons we did so, Dan Kildee and I, is [because] we…
Read MoreSpring cleaning: Vacant lot maintenance through community engagement in Flint
Spring is here at last, and for many Legacy City blight fighters, that means one thing – lot mowing and maintenance season. Maintenance, which includes mowing, waste removal, and other activities to keep lots clean and green, can be costly and time consuming. In order to make sure lots are kept up, some cities rely on strong…
Read MoreHow 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 example of one such partnership is the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation (Cuyahoga Land Bank)’s Discovering Home program–described in Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are…
Read MoreEasy 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 banks are practicing more selective acquisition…
Read MoreOmaha 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 land bank in the State.…
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