Start here · Essential guide
Who Owns the City? Public, Private and Shared Land
A plain guide to the main forms of land ownership in a city, from private and public to shared and nonprofit, and how each one shapes renewal.
Land, Rules and Money
Property and Ownership
Who owns land, how it changes hands and why parcels get stuck.
Code Enforcement and Its Limits
How cities enforce building and nuisance rules, what tools inspectors use, and the situations where enforcement fails or makes problems worse.
Eminent Domain: What It Is and Why It Is Contested
A balanced explanation of eminent domain, the government power to acquire private property for public use, and why fair pay, purpose and process remain disputed.
Land Assembly: Combining Small Parcels Into Buildable Sites
Why scattered small lots are hard to redevelop, how developers and governments gather them into larger sites, and the costs and risks of doing so.
Land Banks: Holding Vacant Parcels for Reuse
How public or nonprofit land banks acquire tax-delinquent and vacant property, hold it, and move it back into productive use, and where they struggle.
Long-Term Ground Leases on Public Land
How governments lease public land for decades instead of selling it, what a ground lease changes for developers, lenders and the public, and its trade-offs.
Property Appraisal and Why Values Differ From Prices
Assessed value, appraised value and sale price measure different things. Learn how each is set, why they diverge, and why that matters in renewal areas.
Surplus Public Property: Deciding What to Do With It
How governments identify unused buildings and land, and weigh selling, leasing, repurposing or keeping them, including the public-interest trade-offs involved.
Tax Foreclosure and How Properties Become Abandoned
How unpaid property taxes can lead step by step to tax foreclosure, why some properties end up vacant, and what the process means for owners and neighbors.
Tenant Protections During Neighborhood Change
A general overview of the tools cities use to reduce displacement of renters when a neighborhood changes, how they work, and why rules vary so widely.
Title Problems That Stall Property Reuse
How unclear ownership records, unsettled inheritance and old liens create hidden barriers to buying, financing and redeveloping vacant or neglected property.
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