Where is the vacant property agenda?

This is an excerpt of Chapter 1 of Tackling Vacancy and Abandonment: Strategies and Impacts After the Great Recession, jointly produced by the Center for Community Progress, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. It has been lightly edited and condensed for the web. In this chapter, Community Progress…

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Making the connection between vacant properties, community wellbeing, and social justice

In the wake of continued police violence in communities of color across the nation, we have witnessed the strengthening of movements against brutality. With its origins in the events of Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland, the “Black Lives Matter” movement has pushed the belief that the injustice and violence that Black Americans experience in our…

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Charting a new way forward through attorney-practitioner partnerships: Part II —Milwaukee

This is the second 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. Missed Part I—Syracuse? Click here >> Let’s give ourselves a little breathing room In Milwaukee, a productive partnership between Gregg Hagopian, assistant city attorney,…

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Charting 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…

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#LotsofThanks: Recognizing revitalization champions!

Last February, we decided to run a Valentine’s Day campaign we called #LoveThatLot, asking you to use the hashtag to share photos of formerly vacant lots that have been transformed into “something downright lovable.” The response was amazing! People shared photos of revitalized vacant spaces from all across the country, and across the world. These…

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How the zombie house crisis mutated and what cities are doing about it

Cross-posted from Next City, this article is one of a ten-part series inspired by the 2015 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference. Are there more zombies in our city than ever before, or are we just paying more attention to them? “Zombie properties” is a clever name to describe residential buildings that are neither alive nor dead: They are caught in…

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