| Five front-line leaders to offer insights, experiences on tackling vacant and abandoned property at opening plenary of Reclaiming Vacant Properties ConferenceWith the epidemic of foreclosures and abandoned homes threatening the stability and revenues of communities and entire cities and towns, community leaders and governments are searching for strategies to reverse the downward spiral. This June, they're coming to New Orleans to find them at the 2012 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference: “Remaking America for the 21st Century.” Leading off the conference, on Thursday June 21st, national commentator Bob Edwards will moderate “In Every Crisis An Opportunity” – a panel discussion among local, county and federal leaders who are working to transform vacant and abandoned homes and businesses into assets for revitalization and growth. Joining Edwards will be New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, and Treasury official Benson “Buzz” Roberts. | 05/08/12 |
| Amy Hovey Named to Lead Community Progress; Co-founder to Serve During TransitionThe Center for Community Progress has announced that Chief Operating Officer and co-founder Amy Hovey will assume the role of interim President and CEO when current President and CEO, Dan Kildee, begins a leave of absence on May 15th. Kildee is taking a leave of absence to run for U.S. Congress. Hovey and Kildee have worked together for more than a decade, at the Genesee County Land Bank and the Genesee Institute. Before that, Hovey served as Program Director of the Michigan State the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and in management, finance and community relations with First of America Bank. | 05/02/12 |
| Cutting edge brownfield project earns Community Progress fellow White House honorThanks to Community Progress Fellow Steve Montle and his colleagues, one Michigan city is carving a new path in repurposing environmentally contaminated properties – in a model for cutting through red tape, keeping down costs, and building collaborative partnerships to transform brownfields into community assets. Montle’s work was honored this week with the White House’s prestigious Champions of Change award. | 04/26/12 |
| Communities poised to access powerful new land bank tools, as Georgia awaits governor's signature on Community Progress-drafted legislation Georgia communities are poised to access powerful new tools to address vacant and abandoned properties, with the Georgia General Assembly’s recent passage of the Georgia Land Bank Act, now awaiting Governor Nathan Deal’s signature. The measure strengthens communities’ ability to take charge of property that contributes to cycles of blight and disinvestment. Center for Community Progress staff wrote the bill and provided critical expertise to win bipartisan support. | 04/05/12 |
| Leaders Come Together to Forge Plans for Revitalization With foreclosures and job loss impacting cities once considered stable, as well as those confronting long-term decline, state and local officials from ten communities in Illinois, Indiana and Louisiana gathered in Boston last week to learn and share ideas about effective strategies to address the vacant properties these economic challenges have left in their wake. | 03/20/12 |
| Congress undercuts support for American neighborhoods by defunding HUD portion of Sustainable Communities initiativeDespite thousands of phone calls, emails, letters and direct outreach to elected officials, the House budget conference committee failed to include funding for HUD’s Sustainable Communities partnership effort for the 2012 budget year. The following is a statement from Dan Kildee, President and CEO of Center for Community Progress. | 11/15/11 |
| Senate must rebuff House efforts to gut funding for Sustainable Communities programLast week, the U.S. House of Representatives stripped funding for the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities – a shortsighted move that will gut one of the nation’s most innovative programs to create jobs and rebuild local communities, according to the Center for Community Progress. | 09/12/11 |
| Policy group urges support for proposed Michigan law to halt predatory land scavenger salesPolicy experts are joining residents in some of Michigan’s hardest hit communities to cheer the introduction today at the State Capital of legislation that would help undercut predatory speculation in delinquent property tax sales that often serves as a wedge for abandonment and growing blight. | 08/04/11 |
| New York State enacts historic land bank legislationNew York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed into law legislation allowing for the creation of land banks in New York State. The New York legislative victory is a result of a bi-partisan effort on the part of a number of Western New York lawmakers, including Senator John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse), Senator Bill Magnarelli (D-Syracuse, Geddes, Van Buren) and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (D-Endwell). | 07/29/11 |
| HUD Commitment to "Legacy Cities" Recognizes Importance of Investing in Urban Areas, Says Policy ExpertThe federal government’s newly announced ‘Strong Cities/Strong Communities’ initiative can serve as a model to reinvigorate struggling urban communities, says Dan Kildee, one of the nation’s leading voices for investing in urban communities as a way to secure the nation’s economic future. | 07/11/11 |
