Dollars and sense: The search for sustainable land bank funding

Frank Alexander, in his newly released second edition of Land Banks and Land Banking, talks about well-run land banks as nimble, flexible tools. No two land banks are exactly the same, as each is adapted to its own particular local conditions. If there is one common challenge that binds together nearly all of the estimated 120 land banks nationwide, however, it would probably be…

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The 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…

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Today’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…

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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 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…

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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, 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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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. Based on our research, there are a number of common characteristics critical to successful land banking. The following is a breakdown of these five key characteristics as laid…

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Building a movement: Michigan Land Bank Leadership Summit

“You’re going to be the vanguard for what will become a movement across the nation.” That was the call to action George McCarthy issued during a keynote address to the nearly 100 attendees at the Michigan Land Bank Leadership Summit (MLBLS), who represented over 30 counties throughout the State of Michigan, primarily as land bank staff…

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10 new land banks authorized in New York!

(Learn more about what New York”s land banks are up to in the new report,  “New York State Land Banks: Combating Blight and Vacancy in New York Communities.”) The number of land banks in New York is now set to double in the coming years. The New York State Legislature passed a bill yesterday to…

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