Progress Points: Vacant Land Stewardship

Author(s): Center for Community Progress

Land is one of our greatest assets, and most finite resources. Vacant lots make up the majority—over 75 percent—of public vacant property inventories across the United States. Without intervention, these hundreds of thousands of lots will quickly become overgrown spaces that harm neighbors and neighborhoods.

Recognizing the incredible opportunity vacant land presents, many communities are finding creative and productive ways to actively repurpose lots and improve their neighborhoods. Vacant land stewardship can address some of our most pressing challenges.

Why is vacant land stewardship important?

Vacant land stewardship is the comprehensive repurposing and maintenance of vacant lots in service to community needs, priorities, and goals. Lots can become everything from well-maintained side yards to vegetable farms to pollinator habitats to solar fields. See many examples of vacant land reuse in our vacant land project database. Vacant land stewardship most immediately benefits residents. Neighborhoods with well maintained and stewarded vacant lots realize an increase in property values, a reduction in crime, deepened resident engagement, and higher quality of life.

• In Flint, Michigan and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, researchers found that residents living in neighborhoods with better maintained vacant lots reported better mental health and less fear than residents in areas with poorly maintained lots.
• In Saginaw, Michigan, the land bank partnered with Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy to seed 1,500 lots with a native, pollinator-friendly seed mix to improve environmental conditions of lots and reduce maintenance needs.
• Crime density and severity declined around vacant lots owned and stewarded by a land bank, found a 2023 study in Flint.
• In Detroit and Milwaukee, community gardens on formerly vacant lots were associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption because gardeners felt more connected to the food they grew. Community gardeners also reported a greater sense of neighborhood connection.
• In Youngstown, Ohio, steets near professionally mowed vacant lots saw deeper declines in violent crime than streets near unmowed vacant lots. Vacant lots repurposed by community groups were associated with even greater declines in crime in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Fundamentals of Vacant Land Stewardship
Vacant land stewardship requires four fundamental elements: knowing your community’s context, having clear goals and plans, committing to collaboration, and enacting facilitative policies. These four elements will look different in every community, but they are all critical components of implementing successful vacant land stewardship.

• Context: Before a community can comprehensively tackle vacant land, it needs to see the whole picture. By understanding what lots you have, who owns them, where they are, and who is already furthering vacant land efforts, you can begin to connect around what’s possible.
• Plans: When you know what you have and who’s involved, you can begin to dream, plan, and articulate the purpose of your efforts on vacant land. Any plan must address the full scope of vacant lots in your geography and be regularly updated.
• Collaboration: Everyone has a role to play in vacant land stewardship. Resident participation and leadership are critical, as they are most immediately impacted. Bringing together all stakeholders can ensure all the necessary skills and buy-in are present to bring ideas to life.
• Policy: Vacant land stewardship depends on policies that facilitate action and innovation. Organizational, local, and state policies must adapt over time to allow for new uses, ownership models, and programs that individuals and communities may create in their pursuit of equitable communities.

Learn more about the benefits of vacant land stewardship here »