Group items tagged

Funders play an essential role in repurposing vacant properties for productive reuse. The Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities recently released a report that provides a comprehensive definition of urban agriculture and outlines several ways in which funders can support this innovative reuse strategy.

Alexander, Frank S (2008). "Landbanking as Metropolitan Policy. Blueprint for American Prosperity." Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution. Available at http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2008/1028_mortgage_crisis_alexander.aspx Executive Summary: "Stressed by the catastrophic mortgage foreclosure crisis and the long-run decline of older, industrial regions, communities around the country are becoming increasingly burdened with vacant and abandoned properties. In order to alleviate the pressures on national prosperity caused by these derelict properties, the federal government needs to advance policies that support regional and local land banking for the 21st century. Land banking is the process or policy by which local governments acquire surplus properties and convert them to productive use or hold them for long term strategic public purposes. By turning vacant and abandoned properties into community assets such as affordable housing, land banking fosters greater metropolitan prosperity and strengthens broader national economic well-being."

Madar, Josiah, Been, Vicki, and Amy Armstrong. "Transforming Foreclosed Properties into Community Assets." NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, 2009. The report reviews the main issues discussed at a roundtable hosted by the Furman Center and supported by the Ford Foundation on May 2, 2008. It describes market issues for foreclosed properties, as well as opportunities for purchasing, reselling, and rehabilitating foreclosed properties. Additionally, the paper includes case studies that describe successful strategies that have been employed by various cities and local governments.