The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland provides an early assessment of a new foreclosure law in Ohio designed to help reduce vacant and blighted properties in the state.
An article by Michelle Park Lazzette details a new state law in Ohio that fast-tracks foreclosures of vacant and abandoned properties.
Lazzette checks in with community development experts from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the same organization that targeted the need for such a law in a 2013 white paper. Their verdict: the success of the new law will all come down to implementation.
Potential sticking points for the new law include local jurisdictions, financial institutions, and some local housing advocates, according to the Cleveland Fed experts cited in the article. The potential benefits of the new law, however, include lower costs to local jurisdictions and neighbors.
Read the full story: A Faster Foreclosure Option for Vacant, Abandoned Properties
Ohio Bans the Use of Plywood to Board Up Vacant Buildings
The state of Ohio is expanding a practice used by the Fannie Mae to counter the negative effects of vacancies and blight.
The External Costs of Vacant Homes
It might seem obvious that vacant homes attract crime and other noxious elements to surrounding properties, but researchers are still working to quantify those external costs.
$160 Million in Bond Funding for Demolitions on the Ballot in Detroit
Proposal N, on the ballot for Detroit voters next week, will provide $160 million in bond funding for demolitions and $90 million to mothball homes for future rehab, but, according to this opinion, it won't solve the city's blight challenges.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority