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

Equitable, Efficient, and Effective Code Enforcement
A Roadmap for Decatur, Illinois

Community Progress assessed and recommended changes to Decatur’s existing approach to housing and building code enforcement, a key component of the City’s effort to stabilize and reinvest in Decatur’s neighborhoods.

Land Banks, Property Tax System, State/National Analysis

The Scale and Cost of Blight in Michigan
A One-Page Brief

This one-page explainer provides an overview of what it would cost to tackle all of Michigan’s vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

Land Banks, Local Analysis

Progress Points: Michigan Land Banks
A Brief Primer

This one-page explainer provides an overview of land banks and their impact in Michigan.

Racial Equity

Championing Leaders of Color in Housing Equity and Community Development
Results of a Survey of the Community Development Field

Championing Leaders of Color reflects an effort to uncover and disrupt the systems that perpetuate racial inequity in the communities we serve and the organizations where we work. This report presents findings from a national survey distributed to stakeholders in the community development field, provides insights into data and trends gleaned from responses, and deliberates implications for leaders in, funders to, and supporters of the community development field to consider in service of equitable results.

State/National Analysis

From State Capitols to City Halls
Smarter State Policies for Stronger Cities

Cities are often held hostage by state policy—but they don’t need to be. This report by Alan Mallach explains the push and pull between city and state governments, and lays the foundation for a more constructive future.

Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets

Progress Points: Neighborhood Markets and Data
A Brief Primer

This brief explains why understanding local real estate markets and how they affect the community is essential to addressing vacant properties.

Property Tax System

Progress Points: Delinquent Property Tax Enforcement
A Brief Primer

This brief explains how equitable, efficient, and effective property tax enforcement can be powerful tool in interrupting the cycle of neighborhood decline.

State/National Analysis

Progress Points: Systemic Vacancy
A Brief Primer

What is systemic vacancy and how is it different from just a couple of vacant properties? This onepager provides a brief explainer.

Creative Placemaking

Progress Points: Creative Placemaking
A Brief Primer

Download a brief explainer of creative placemaking, what it is, and why it’s important for communities.

Land Banks

Progress Points: Demonstrating the Positive Impacts of Land Banks
A Brief Primer

Download a one-page explainer on how land banks provide positive impact on the communities they serve.

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…

Code Enforcement System, Land Banks, Local Analysis, Property Tax System

Enhancing Capacity to Repurpose New Jersey’s Vacant Properties
How to Advance Community Goals Through Land Banking and Other Tools

This brief is a product of the New Jersey Land Bank Launch Initiative. The competition for land (with and without structures) is being felt acutely across the Garden State. Since the pandemic, many New Jersey communities have seen markets flip almost overnight, with an influx of new residents who had…

Land Banks, Racial Equity

The Road Ahead for Land Banks
Opportunities for Growth and Greater Equity

For nearly 15 years, the Center for Community Progress has tirelessly worked with hundreds of land bank leaders, practitioners, partners, and allies to help land banks revitalize their communities. Through our expert guidance, resources, leadership programming, policy advocacy, and the National Land Bank Network (NLBN), we have been an integral…

Land Banks, Racial Equity

How Land Banks Are Leading Racial Justice Efforts
Moving from Vision to Action for Equitable Development

It is not a coincidence that systemic vacancy—and its associated social, economic, and environmental harms—disproportionately affects Black and Brown neighborhoods. This is the result of decades of racist, inequitable policies and institutional disinvestment. Land banks are a powerful tool to break this cycle of vacancy, coordinate new investments in long-neglected…

Property Tax System

Policy Brief: Tyler v. Hennepin County in 2024
Updated Analysis and Policy Reform Options

On May 25, 2023, the US Supreme Court handed down its decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County, making a significant incursion into the state and local government practice of property tax foreclosure. In short, the Tyler decision posits that tax foreclosure is solely a debt collection tool and that local…

Land Banks, Local Analysis

Exploring the Utility and Value of Creating a Land Bank in Atlantic City
New Jersey Land Bank Launch Technical Assistance Scholarship

This memo is a product of the New Jersey Land Bank Launch Initiative. This memorandum summarizes key takeaways, observations, and recommendations for the U.S. HART CARES leadership team (US HART) and the City of Atlantic City (City) to consider as they explore implementation of a land bank to address vacant,…

Land Banks, Local Analysis

Assessment of VAD Strategies and a Land Bank in Salem, New Jersey
New Jersey Land Bank Launch Technical Assistance Scholarship

This brief is a product of the New Jersey Land Bank Launch Initiative. This memorandum summarizes key takeaways, observations, and recommendations for the City of Salem (City) and its partner, the Cumberland County Improvement Authority (The Authority) to consider as they explore implementation of a land bank to address vacant,…

Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets

Exploring Open Data Portals and Data Consortia for VAD Property Interventions
A Memorandum for Dayton, Ohio

This memorandum explores the benefits of both data consortia and open data portals as tools for local governments to monitor, manage, and address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties. The purpose of this research is to help inform the City of Dayton and its partners as they embark on better…

Publications

Topic

Geography