WHAt's New

If you know of an upcoming event, new resource, awards opportunity or other relevant information, please contact Jennifer Leonard at jleonard[at]smartgrowthamerica.org.

Detroit Vacant Property Campaign Seeks Project Director
If you’re passionate about Detroit and interested in the Campaign's work, this job could be for you! This multi-year campaign, modeled after NVPC, is a collaborative project that involves Community Legal Resources (CLR), Detroit LISC, the University of Michigan, and the Community Development Advocates of Detroit. CLR is serving as the lead organization and seeks a full-time Project Director to fill an immediate vacancy.

The purpose of the campaign is to work with communities throughout Detroit to develop an array of tools and strategies for preventing, managing, and productively re-using vacant properties. The three components of the campaign include: 1) development of vacant property plans in six neighborhoods; 2) creation of a “toolbox” of strategies and resources designed to help communities outside the six neighborhoods gain control of their vacant properties; and 3) technical assistance to policy makers in order to help them enhance the vacant property legal and policy environment thereby increasing the effectiveness of communities working to address vacant properties.

May 16th is the deadline, so find out more today!

Genesee Land Bank Honored

We are thrilled to announce that the Genesee Land Bank was honored last week as an Innovations in American Government Award Winner. On September 25, the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government announced the Genesee Land Bank as the winner of the 2007 Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations Award in Affordable Housing. Read more about the awards and the Land Bank. View the award video about the Land Bank. Congratulations to the hardworking crew in Flint!

Rep. Higgins (NY) Proposes Help for Cities

On September 7th, federal legislation to address the vacant housing problem was introduced into the House by Representative Brian Higgins (NY) and the Senate by Senator Hillary Clinton (NY). Below is a Dear Colleague letter from Representative Higgins circulating about the bill, as well as the text of the legislation itself. Please help support this bill by urging your local Congressional representatives to cosponsor it. Download a draft of the bill (96kb PDF). Read the sign-on letter.

Neighborhood Stability and Foreclosures

Not sure how the foreclsure crisis is affecting our communities? Read this compelling piece by Jim Rokakis, Cuyahoga County Treasurer.

New report recognizes the value of Genesee County Land Bank

The costs of abandonment have been documented for some time – higher crime rates, decreased property values, reduced tax revenue…now a new study adds to the growing research proving that the value of intervention can be measured as well. A just-completed two-year study by the Land Policy Institute at Michigan State University, Economic Impacts of Residential Property Abandonment and the Genesee County Land Bank in Flint, Michigan, measured the value impact of the Genesee County Land Bank demolition/greening project on surrounding property values. The study delves into Genesee County’s unique response to the significant tax delinquency and abandonment plaguing Flint and other hard hit older industrial cities. While it is an exhaustive study, the bottom line is this: $3.5 million of demolition activity produced $112 million in improved surrounding property values. 

Download the report (1.9 MB).

Experience the Shrinking Cities exhibit: Cleveland, Ohio

If you’re in the Cleveland area, make sure to visit the international Shrinking Cities exhibit at Kent State University – showing through June 8, 2007.

NVPC Participates in Shrinking Cities Symposium

In early February NVPC Advisory Committee Member Dan Kildee, together with Research and Policy Director Joe Schilling presented papers at the Shrinking Cities Symposium sponsored by the Institute of Urban and Regional Development at the University of California, Berkeley. The Institute hosts the Shrinking Cities Group, a collaborative of international researchers exploring the social, cultural, economic, and political implications of distressed rural and urban cities with declining populations. The symposium gathered academics and practitioners from across the United States and around the globe to discuss the dynamics of shrinking cities. Participants shared their research on shrinking cities, discussed policies to address shrinkage, and demonstrated strategies various localities and regions are testing to address the physical, social, and economic transformations that accompany shrinkage.

Read a summary of the symposium.

HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and HUD are inviting nominations for the 2007 HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation. This award recognizes the recipient for success in advancing the goals of historic preservation while providing affordable housing and/or expanded economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income families and individuals. Nominated projects or activities are judged for the successes they have achieved in preserving, rehabilitating, restoring, and interpreting our architectural and cultural heritage.

Submissions must be postmarked no later than March 1, 2007. Award announcements and presentations will be made during the National Preservation Conference scheduled for October 2-6, 2007 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Download the application or call 1 (800) 245-2691, option 1 for more information.

Webcast: Building Strong Communities: The Role of Community Development Corporations in Brownfields Redevelopment

The webcast is FREE to the first 100 registrants, after which the cost will be $40 per site. To register, visit http://www.eventbuilder.com/encounter/DBCN.

National Award for Smart Growth Achievement -- 2007 Call for Entries

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now accepting applications for the sixth annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This competition is open to public-sector entities that have successfully used smart growth principles to improve communities environmentally, socially, and economically. Entry deadline is April 3, 2007; winners will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, DC, in November 2007.

The National Award for Smart Growth Achievement recognizes communities that use the principles of smart growth to create better places. This competition is open annually to local or state governments and other public sector entities. Non-profit or private organizations or individuals are not eligible for the award. However, if a superior project is developed through a public-private or a public-non-profit partnership, EPA will make the award to the public sector entity while noting the other participants in the activity.

Categories:

Waterfront and Coastal Development (new)

Equitable Development

Overall Excellence in Smart Growth
Built Projects
Policies and Regulations

Download applications materials or read more about the 2007 program and past program awards at the resource link below.

Don't worry if you missed the Campaign's session at the New Partners for Smart Growth conference - you can download the presentations here (they will be posted soon )! Joining the panel for Preserving Workforce Housing through Civil Receivership and Rental Inspection Programs was Joe Schilling (Professor in Practice, Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech), Mel Plummer (Chief Inspector, Los Angeles Housing Department, Code Enforcement Unit), Diane Silva-Martinez (Head Deputy City Attorney, Code Enforcement Unit, Office of the City Attorney, City of San Diego), and Elissa Barrett (Attorney, Bet Tzedek Legal Services and Tenant Rights).

ESRI/Magellan/NVPC grant awards

Read about the grants awarded to provide hardware, software, and training to 10 local and regional governments. The awards were made in December 2006 to governments that proposed GIS and GPS applications to encourage property preservation and redevelopment. The recipients will create and share reusable applications that other governments can access through an ESRI public access domain. Awardees will present their applications at the 2007 Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference. The grant recipients are: City of Opa-locka, Fla., City of Detroit, Mich., City of Trenton, N.J., City of Gretna, La., City of Boston, Mass., City of Ashland, Wis., City of Spokane, Wash., Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission, Iowa, City of Alton, Texas, City of New Orleans, La.

Read the Campaign's newest and most comprehensive report - Blueprint Buffalo: Regional Strategies and Local Tools for Reclaiming Vacant Properties in the City and Suburbs of Buffalo

Congratulations to the winners of Round Sixteen Maxwell Awards of Excellence

The National Vacant Properties Campaign was honored this year to partner with the Fannie Mae Foundation for the Round Sixteen Maxwell Awards of Excellence. This year’s awards did more than recognize outstanding affordable housing development – they focused on development that reclaimed vacant properties.