Beyond Brownfields redevelopment, many of our communities and
neighborhoods struggle with how to prevent, abate, and perhaps acquire vacant residential/commercial
properties, abandoned buildings, and vacant store fronts. This is especially
relevant with the dramatic rise in foreclosure filings nationwide!
Many of these vacant properties are near by or next door
to the classic Brownfields sites. Instead of attacking these problems
separately, a few communities are beginning to take holistic approaches that
include the reclamation of Greyfields and vacant properties—some of us might
call this a type of "Area Wide" BFs redevelopment.
With generous support from the Ford, Rockefeller, Fannie
Mae, and Surdna foundations, for the past three years I've been engaged in a
collaborative endeavor with several national nonprofit organizations to
identify and share model programs and practices related to vacant property
revitalization--the National Vacant Properties Campaign (NVPC) (www.vacantproperties.org ). We have
also provided direct technical assistance to cities such as Cleveland,
Tucson, Las Vegas,
Buffalo, Indianapolis,
Baltimore, Jacksonville,
etc. Many of these communities have good BFs programs but have yet to find ways
to coordinate with their housing and community development counterparts.
No matter where we work, we run into a wide array of state
and local legal and policy issues involving such topics as code enforcement, nuisance
abatement, receivership, housing inspection, land banks, CDCs development,
affordable housing, spot blight, tax delinquent foreclosure, real property
information systems, mortgage servicers, predatory lending, and eminent domain.
If you and/or your community are involved with these and
other issues related to community and economic development, then I invite
you to join us for the first national conference on vacant property reclamation
hosted by the NVPC and the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank in Pittsburgh, September 24-25th.
There are many sessions that highlight model programs and practices that could
benefit you and your communities.
See link below. Please feel free to pass this announcement
on to other colleagues and clients
Joe Schilling
Metropolitan Institute--Virginia Tech
Don't miss Reclaiming Vacant Properties
Conference:
Strategies for Rebuilding America's
Neighborhoods!
September 24-25,
2007
Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.vacantproperties.org/reclaimingconference.html