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.

Report cover of the Chesapeake Land Bank Authority Strategic Plan

Land Banks, Local Analysis

Chesapeake Land Bank Authority Strategic Plan
Building on a Strong Foundation for the Next Stage of Growth

Community Progress worked with the Chesapeake Land Bank Authority to develop an ambitious strategic plan for the next five years.

Land Banks

2025 State of Land Banking Survey Snapshot
Key Takeaways

This one-pager of our 2025 State of Land Banking summarizes survey results.

Code Enforcement System

Code Enforcement Training Guide
A Strategic Curriculum for Local Practitioners Nationwide

A guide to training your code enforcement officers to help achieve your department’s ultimate goal: Compliance.

Code Enforcement System, Property Tax System

Louisville Metro Government Code Liens Analysis
Analysis and Recommendations

Analysis and strategy recommendations for using code lien foreclosure in service of neighborhood revitalization while minimizing unintended harm.

Code Enforcement System, Local Analysis

Code Compliance in Providence, Rhode Island
Recommendations to Promote Equitable Code Compliance for Substandard Rental Properties

Community Progress assessed Providence’s code enforcement approach for deteriorating, occupied rental properties and recommended improvements.

Cover page of the Cleveland Code Enforcement Training Guide

Code Enforcement System

Cleveland Code Enforcement Training Guide
A Strategic Curriculum for Local Practitioners

A curriculum for training code enforcement officers, focused on compliance without unintended harm.

cover image of recommendations to wayne county report

Land Banks, State & Local Analysis

Recommendations for the Wayne County Land Bank
Regarding Approach to Acquisition and Disposition of Nontraditional Properties

The memo outlines 12 recommendations for the WCLB to improve disposition of challenging properties, strengthen partnerships, and align operations with broader goals for housing, sustainability, and economic development.

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.

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 & Local 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 & Local 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.

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

Regenerating Youngstown and Mahoning County Through Vacant Property Reclamation
Reforming Systems and Rightsizing Markets

As part of the National Vacant Properties Campaign’s policy assessment report for the Youngstown-Mahoning County Vacant Properties Initiative, the study team compiled the results of its research and interviews into five program briefs, which offer a snapshot of the city and county’s vacant property programs and practices as of 2008.

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

Blueprint Buffalo Action Plan
Regional Strategies and Local Tools for Reclaiming Vacant Properties in the City and Suburbs of Buffalo

The Blueprint Buffalo Action Plan offers an overview of recommendations and models to emphasize that a comprehensive vacant properties initiative will require coordinated action by the city, surrounding communities, state and federal agencies, and neighborhood groups.

Publications

Topic

Geography