Publications

Community Progress publishes reports, case studies, and toolkits to help communities across the country turn vacant spaces into vibrant places. Download hundreds of free resources today, and sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest publications directly in your inbox.

Code Enforcement System, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Racial Equity

Just, Smart
Civil Rights Protections and Market-Sensitive Vacant Property Strategies

This report explore primary areas of civil rights protections and reviews the civil rights vulnerabilities of code enforcement and land banking strategies that manage properties differently based on the neighborhood market context in which they are located.

State/National Analysis

State of Vacancy in Michigan (2014)
A Community Progress Research Brief

This report illustrates general trends in residential vacancy and distressed property between 2000 and 2013 across Michigan counties and select Michigan cities.

Local Analysis, Vacant Land Stewardship

Every Neighborhood Has A Future…And It Doesn’t Include Blight
Detroit Blight Removal Task Force Plan

The Blight Removal Task Force was created in 2013 to develop a straightforward and detailed set of recommendations to address vacancy and abandonment in Detroit. This publication is a summary of this work.

Creative Placemaking, State/National Analysis

Placemaking in Legacy Cities
Opportunities and Good Practices

Placemaking in Legacy Cities: Opportunities and Good Practices explores how residents and leaders in Legacy Cities have used placemaking principles to transform blighted public spaces into revitalized community assets.

Land Banks, State/National Analysis

Georgia Land Bank Resource Manual
A Guide and Toolkit for Land Banking Professionals

The comprehensive Georgia Land Bank Resource Manual guides stakeholders through the process of creating new – and working with existing – land bank authorities, providing template legal documents that can save land bank operators thousands of hours in legal fees.

Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System

Analysis of Bulk Tax Lien Sale
City of Rochester

This report shares the findings of Community Progress 2012 assessment Rochester, New York’s bulk tax lien sale process and in rem tax foreclosure process.

Detroit Future City Strategic Framework 2012

Local Analysis

Detroit Future City
2012 Detroit Strategic Framework Plan

The 2012 Detroit Strategic Framework articulates a shared vision for Detroit’s future, and recommends specific actions or reaching that future.

Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System, State/National Analysis

Long-Term Stress and Systemic Failure
Taking Seriously the Fiscal Crisis of America’s Older Cities

This report – written for America’s older cities in the wake of the recession, but with lessons for all cities that face fiscal stress – suggests a new approach to end the cycle of decline that has trapped many municipalities.

Land Banks

Land Banks and Land Banking (2011)
A Community Progress Research Report

As a follow-up to the 2005 seminal land bank text, the new Land Banks and Land Banking, authored by Frank S. Alexander, offers public officials and community leaders a step-by-step guide for taking control of problem properties and then leveraging them to spur smart development and meet community needs.

State/National Analysis

Restoring Properties, Rebuilding Communities
Transforming Vacant Properties in Today’s America

This report offers a systemic look at the problem and evaluates actions that can be taken by federal, state and local governments, as well as community organizations, private foundations and real estate developers to stem the tide of increasing vacancy rates and meet the challenges presented by already vacant properties.

Land Banks

Detroit Land Bank Authority Strategic Plan
Next Five: 2025–2030 Strategic Plan

“Next Five” is a strategic plan for the Detroit Land Bank Authority for 2025-2030, developed by Community Progress in partnership with DLBA.

Code Enforcement System, Land Banks

Recommendations for the Hopkinsville and Christian County Landbank Authority
Addressing Vacant and Abandoned Properties through Code Lien Foreclosure

Guidance for dealing with the community’s vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

Land Banks

Emergency Housing in Rural Upstate New York
How Land Banks May Help Address the Crisis

Ways that land banks in rural communities can use their powers to help address homelessness and emergency housing needs.

Brownfields, Land Banks

Emerging Practices & Practical Considerations for Land Banks & Brownfield Redevelopment
A Practical Guide

Practical guidance and case studies for land banks that want to redevelop contaminated vacant and abandoned properties.

Brownfields, Land Banks

Land Banks and Brownfields: Case Studies
Examples of Brownfield Redevelopment from Three Land Banks

Examples of how land banks have converted vacant, abandoned, and contaminated properties into community assets.

Land Banks

Transforming the Southland by Expanding Vacant Property Development
Recommendations for the South Suburban Land Bank and Development Authority

Recommendations for improving strategic development outcomes of the land bank’s inventory, specifically focusing on developing housing.

Code Enforcement System, Local Analysis

An Assessment of Code Enforcement Strategies in Lima, Ohio
Observations and Recommendations

How Lima can address its vacant and abandoned buildings and lots to improve community wellbeing.

Land Banks, Local Analysis

Creating Homeownership Opportunities in Newark through Housing Choice Vouchers
A Newark Land Bank Case Study

How the Newark Land Bank is using Housing Choice Vouchers to help people become homeowners.

Brownfields, Land Banks

Land Banks & Brownfield Redevelopment
A Step-by-Step Overview

A step-by-step guide for how land banks can redevelop polluted or contaminated properties and put them back to productive use.

Local Analysis

Addressing Vacant, Abandoned, and Deteriorated Properties in Arkansas
A Policy Brief

Arkansas communities face sizable challenges with vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties—what many call “blighted” properties. These challenges encompass vacant commercial properties in the state’s rural main streets and urban downtowns, abandoned houses and overgrown lots in residential neighborhoods, and deteriorated structures scattered throughout rural and agricultural communities. Nearly 30…

Publications

Topic

Geography