Vacant Land Elements Examples
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. To learn more about these elements and discover some next steps for your community's learning journey, explore the element examples below.
To view presorted examples by type click on one of the following: Plans » Policy » Collaboration » Context »
Element Type
Organization
City of Gary
The Gary Green Infrastructure Plan is a city-wide framework for green infrastructure. The plan integrates with broader land use planning and redevelopment efforts and details existing conditions. Importantly, it provides tools, strategies, and recommendations for project prioritization and discusses management,…
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St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative
“The St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative is a coalition of community members, private and nonprofit stakeholders, and City agencies committed to reducing vacant property in St. Louis. The Collaborative helps to coordinate existing vacancy efforts under one umbrella and empowers the public and…
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City of Baltimore
Baltimore’s Open Data Portal provides access to hundreds of datasets and interactive dashboards. The Vacant Building Dashboard shares data on number of vacant building notices, building rehabs, and demolitions. The data can be sorted and filtered by geographic bounds, time…
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City of St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority
The ‘Mow to Own’ Program is allows residents who own an occupied residential or commercial property to purchase adjacent vacant lots for $125. Applications are submitted to the St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) Board of Commissioners for review. Following approval, the successful applicant receives a deed to the property with a two-year maintenance lien.
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City of Detroit
The Detroit Solar Toolkit consists of five different tools to enable Detroiters to undertake the equitable deployment of solar energy as a path to a more sustainable future for residents of Detroit. The tools include an online solar map, solar…
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Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy
The Pollinator Project uses re-naturalization techniques to stabilize vacant urban land in Saginaw, MI. Through a partnership with the Saginaw County Land Bank, the Pollinator Project has transformed over half the land bank’s vacant lot inventory. Other partners, including community…
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City of Flint
The repurposing of vacant properties is a central component of Imagine Flint. Recognizing that some areas of Flint cannot continue to exist as they do today, Flint residents have chosen to adapt and transform their neighborhoods and commercial corridors into…
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Heartland Conservation Alliance
This mapping tool is designed to help prioritize the vacant lots that can have the most environmental and health benefits for urban communities. The tool provides parcel specific information and important contextual information like if it is in a flood…
Read More »Opportunities for Growth and Greater Equity
There are over 300 land banks and land banking programs operating across the United States, and the field has come a long way since the first land banks formed in the early 1970s. For over 40 years, land banks have kept a sharp focus on removing harmful vacant, abandoned, and…
Read More »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…
Read More »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…
Read More »New Jersey Land Bank Launch Technical Assistance Scholarship
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, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties in Atlantic City. Program Background Virtually all communities…
Read More »New Jersey Land Bank Launch Technical Assistance Scholarship
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, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties in Salem City and the region. Program Background …
Read More »Recommendations for Policy and Practice
Creative placemaking is the practice of enhancing a neighborhood’s quality of life through arts, culture, and intentional community development to meet the vision of the people who live, work, and play there. This practice takes various forms, including but not limited to temporary visual art installations, performance events, and permanent…
Read More »A Resource for Land Banks and Their Community Land Trust Partners
A resource for land banks and their community land trust partners outlining a framework for disposition policies that incentivize long-term affordable housing.
Read More »A Brief Primer
Brownfield properties, often referred to as “brownfields,” are properties where the presence or potential presence of a hazardous chemical or pollutant makes it challenging, risky, and costly to redevelop. While many people think of brownfields as large, abandoned factories or chemical processing plants, the true scope of brownfield properties is…
Read More »A Tool for Addressing Problem Properties to Serve Community Goals
Across the country, over 300 land banks are mitigating the harms of vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties on neighbors and neighborhoods, and advancing equitable, inclusive, and resilient communities. Land banks have profound positive impact in the communities they serve including stabilizing neighborhoods and property values of neighboring homes, addressing…
Read More »A 10-Step Guide
A ten-step guide to forming a land bank in your community.
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