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.

Land Banks

Progress Points: Land Banks and Community Land Trusts
A Brief Primer

Download a one-page explainer on what land banks and community land trusts are, the differences, and how they can provide lasting housing affordability.

Land Banks

Progress Points: Land Banks
A Brief Primer

Download a one-page explainer on what land banks are, and why they’re important.

Vacant Land Stewardship

Progress Points: Vacant Land Stewardship
A Brief Primer

Download a one-page explainer on what vacant land stewardship is, and why it’s important.

Land Banks, State/National Analysis

Land Banks and Community Land Trusts
Partnering to Provide Equitable Housing Opportunities Now and for Future Generations

In this report, you’ll learn about the key differences between land banks and community land trusts, and how together they have the potential to help reverse the trajectory of disinvestment to unlock a pipeline of vacant and deteriorated homes to quality, affordable housing for generations.

State/National Analysis

State Policy and Problem Property Regulation
A Resource for Practitioners and Policymakers at the State and Local Level

This report is a property regulation resource for practitioners and policymakers at the state and local levels. It focuses on the central theme that state laws and regulations largely determine what local governments can or cannot do to regulate problem properties and is designed to be useful to people working to frame more effective strategies to deal with problem properties and work with state governments and legislatures to enact new laws and amend older ones to that end.

ARPA, Code Enforcement System, COVID-19, Land Banks, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, Property Tax System, State/National Analysis, Vacant Land Stewardship

Tackling Vacancy and Abandonment
Strategies and Impacts after the Great Recession

Ten years on from the Great Recession, we take stock of lessons learned from that crisis and how they might be applied to future challenges. This edited volume, jointly produced by Community Progress and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Cleveland, contains twelve articles by national experts in the field of neighborhood revitalization.

Land Banks, Local Analysis

Spokane, Washington
Preliminary Analysis of Land Banking and other tools to Address Vacant and Abandoned Properties and Create a Pipeline for Affordable Housing

Community Progress produced this report following a technical assistance engagement with Spokane, Washington to explore whether a land bank is the right tool to turn vacant property inventory into affordable housing.

Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets, State/National Analysis

Pathway to Partnerships
A Guide for Realtors

A resource guide for realtors collecting lessons learned from the Transforming Neighborhoods program that highlights the successful ways REALTORS® and local governments have partnered to enact inclusive and equitable neighborhood development.

Code Enforcement System, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets

A More Strategic Equitable Approach to Housing and Building Code Enforcement in Toledo, Ohio
A Community Progress Technical Assistance Report

Community Progress produced this report following a technical assistance engagement with Toledo, Ohio to assess the City’s approach to code enforcement.

Land Banks, Local Analysis, Parcel Data & Neighborhood Markets

BAM: In Partnership, In Action
A Flexible Action Plan for the Next Three Years

Community Progress provided technical support in the development of this action plan for the Blight Authority of Memphis, to help BAM play a meaningful role in the local fight against vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

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