Detroit Launches Community Land Trust

A newly created CLT aims to support the building of affordable housing.

1 minute read

May 5, 2025, 8:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Aerial view of downtown Detroit, Michigan at twilight.

f11photo / Adobe Stock

Detroit leaders hope to address the city’s affordable housing shortage through a newly created community land trust, reports Julia Cardi in Detroit News.

The City Council approved $3.7 million in fiscal year 2026 to fund the project, dubbed the Detroit Cultivator Community Land Trust. It has already acquired six acres of land that will be used to build affordable housing or other projects that benefit the community.

Land trusts are becoming an increasingly popular way to put property in community hands and keep housing costs down. “A 2023 report from the Detroit Justice Center, a nonprofit that has made affordable housing a priority, says one benefit of community land trust housing is that its affordability doesn't expire, an advantage over developments that use low-income housing tax credits.”

Sunday, May 4, 2025 in The Detroit News

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 14, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Front of Walmart store with sign.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network

The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

May 7, 2025 - Inc.

Regeneration of contaminated industrial land used for waste dumping, West Midlands, UK, 2006 .

EPA Awards $267 Million to Clean Up and Reuse Contaminated Sites

The EPA is investing the funds to clean up and redevelop contaminated sites nationwide, supporting economic growth, community revitalization, and environmental restoration.

May 18 - Environmental Protection

Archway made of bikes in Knoxville, Tennessee over Tennessee River.

Knoxville Dedicates $1M to New Greenway

The proposed greenway would run along North Broadway and connect to 125 miles of existing trails.

May 18 - WATE

25mph speed limit sign with digital "Your Speed" sign below it.

Philadelphia Launches ‘Speed Slots’ Traffic Calming Pilot

The project focuses on a 1.4-mile stretch of Lincoln Drive where cars frequently drive above the posted speed limit.

May 18 - WHYY