The Center For Community Progress Blog

Kevyn Orr officially assumed the role of Detroit’s emergency manager last week and with it the monumental task of restructuring one of America’s great cities. Much has been written about Detroit’s financial problems of late, and they are truly staggering. At the same time, the city suffers from numerous related problems concerning public safety, basic…

Originally posted by Alan Mallach in National Housing Institute’s Rooflines Blog, September  23, 2012 Community Progress Senior Fellow, Alan Mallach, tackles the tough questions surrounding neighborhood decline and revitalization in Detroit and other legacy cities in his latest contribution to Rooflines, the Shelterforce/National Housing Institute blog. He shares his experiences speaking with Detroit residents and…

Originally posted by Alan Mallach in National Housing Institute’s Rooflines Blog, August 7, 2012 Community Progress Senior Fellow, Alan Mallach, discusses neighborhood decline and revitalization in Detroit in Rooflines, the Shelterforce/National Housing Institute blog. He stresses the importance of the city’s “middle-ground” neighborhoods and the need to stabilize them in order to be socially and…

As policy analysts and pundits unpack President Obama’s Thursday address on jobs and the economy, Eric Scorsone of Michigan State University reminds us in Community Progress’ latest blog entry that the fiscal health of our cities is a core driver of the larger economic health of their regions. He argues that comprehensive strategies to address…

As evidenced in the recent census, the Syracuse, New York region is turning a corner on investment, development and growth.  While these trends suggest a bright future, decades of population loss and economic turmoil have left a resurgent Syracuse area with many legacy issues to wrestle with, most notably, vacant property. Nearly 2,000 unoccupied and…

We continue to seek  synergies  between the important work of the Center for Community Progress, turning problem properties into vibrant places, and our work at the Cornerstone Partnership, to encourage long-term affordable homeownership strategies.  Both strategies promote long-term stewardship of land resources by better managing vacant and abandoned land (Community Progress) and by encouraging homeownership…

One of the most challenging and important problems for older cities, particularly those that have lost much of their population, is how to not only stabilize still-vital neighborhoods, but make them communities of choice – places where people who live there already want to stay, and where people from elsewhere want to move into. How…

I have the distinct honor of joining former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, former Columbus, OH Mayor Greg Lashutka, Dan Kildee, Frank Alexander, and about 80 other experts from the United States and Europe this weekend to help set an agenda for cities in this country that are experiencing severe population loss. These are cities where…

Recently released census data confirmed what many of us long have felt to be true: that the last decade has been one of steep population decline in cities like Detroit, Flint and across the industrial Midwest. The numbers are stark: Detroit’s population fell to 713,777, a loss of 237,493 people, a 25 percent decline. Flint…