text:
Once-Dilapidated city train stations enjoying a renaissance
"With its new restaurants and stores, Denver's recently reopened Union Station is bustling now. But five years ago, it would have been empty."
Nathan Heffel | NPR | August 14, 2014
Bank of America pays record $16.65B penalty
"Bank of America Thursday agreed to pay $16.65 billion to resolve allegations it sold toxic mortgage-backed securities and other financial products in the lead-up to the financial crisis — the largest civil settlement ever between a single firm and the U.S. government."
Kevin McCoy and Kevin Johnson | USA Today | August 21, 2014
In a bank settlement, don't forget the bulldozers
"But even if this largest-ever mortgage settlement goes through as expected, it will fall short if little to no meaningful cash goes to the demolition and repurposing of abandoned homes."
Gretchen Morgenson | New York Times | August 16, 2014
A full house: Birmingham Land Bank Authority to be completed this morning, thousands of vacant properties await distribution
"The Birmingham authority created to handle the distribution of thousands of abandoned and blighted properties will finally be complete this morning after final seats are filled." Joseph D. Bryant | | AL.com | August 19, 2014
Naples to foreclose on property with $105,000 in fines, developer vows to continue project
"In a first for Naples, the city Code Enforcement Board unanimously voted to foreclose on a nearly half-acre property after construction halted six years ago, racking up more than $105,000 in fines and liens."
Aisling Swift | Naples News | July 31, 2014
Court orders clean-up at vacant properties
"A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge has ordered an absentee Baltimore landlord to clean up about 50 blighted properties within 90 days, the first ruling since a state law was amended two years ago to make it easier for community groups to sue the owners of problem properties."
Natalie Sherman | Baltimore Sun | August 16, 2014
Wayne Co. could reclaim nearly 20K auctioned properties over unpaid bills
"A Wayne County judge on Friday gave county officials the authority to take back nearly 20,000 tax foreclosed properties auctioned off to new owners who also didn't pay bills."
Christine MacDonald | The Detroit News | August 16, 2014
For Camden neighborhood, park project promises to open up a path to the river
"This industrial five-acre lot on Camden's Waterfront South is slated to become Phoenix Park come spring."
Julia Terruso | The Philadelphia Inquirer | August 7, 2014
Survey: Nearly 15 percent of Camden properties abandoned
"A two-year project has found 3,417 buildings are abandoned in Camden — a level one expert described as "up there with Detroit." Kevin Shelly | The Courier-Post | August 14, 2014
NY applications open for $20M land bank funding
"The New York Attorney General's Office says it will take applications to help Land Banks restore abandoned properties with up to $20 million."
Associated Press | Wall Street Journal | August 1, 2014
Milwaukee finds a fix for stormwater overflows: Abandoned basements
"Some basement flooding could become happy occurrences, if more cities walk in the watery footsteps of Milwaukee."
Laurena O'Neil | NPR | August 12, 2014
Dad transforms his block into fun spot for kids, adults
"On the vacant lot next to Dan Davis' house on Washburn in Detroit, there is a homemade movie screen, a bonfire pit, a swing set, a barbecue grill and weights for working out."
Ariana Taylor | The Detroit Free Press | August 4, 2014
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How much cleaning up brownfields is really worth
"The authors conclude that, 'averaging over the experiences at a nationally representative sample of brownfield properties, cleanup leads to housing price increases between 4.9 percent and 32.2 percent.'"
Kriston Capps | The Atlantic City Lab | July 29, 2014
City solicits developers for 27 vacant properties
"In its largest disposition of city-owned property in recent history, the Department of Housing and Community Development offered up 27 vacant properties across six sites for development this week."
Aaron Wiener | Washington City Paper | July 18, 2014
The PrivateBank pledges $10 million to vacant home rehabs
"The PrivateBank is committing $10 million in financing to the Cook County Land Bank's efforts to acquire and rehab distressed vacant homes and then sell them at cost to consumers."
Mary Ellen Podmolik | Chicago Tribune | July 24, 2014
Lexington crackdown on abandoned properties is likely to bring higher taxes for violators
"The lime-green Seventh Street Community Center sticks out in the strip of vacant and abandoned houses on Lexington's East Seventh Street."
Beth Musgrave and Linda Johnson | Lexington herald-Leader | August 4, 2014
Can a Baltimore neighborhood avoid the pitfalls of gentrification?
"When Phillip Turner moved into the Greenmount West neighborhood in 1981, barely a 10-minute walk from the train lines of Baltimore City's Penn Station, he was optimistic. "
Andrew Zaleski | Next City | August 4, 2014
Razing expectations: As vacant houses glut market, Battle Creek looks to demolition to fight blight
"Two blocks south of the Post Foods plant, in a neighborhood that long ago was known for its pristine upkeep, sit two adjacent homes on Marjorie Street."
Jennifer Bowman | Battle Creek Enquirer | July 27, 2014
Artists look to tackle neighborhood blight, one vacant lot at a time
"On a humid Saturday morning in late July, a dozen young artists were knee-deep into one of the Ivanhoe neighborhood's 500 vacant lots."
Caroline Bauman | The Kansas City Star | July 28, 2014
With Omaha Municipal Land Bank approved, what's next?
"Now that the Omaha Municipal Land Bank has been OK'd, the challenge is to create an agency that will make a difference in the chronic deterioration of north and South Omaha neighborhoods."
Christopher Burbach | Omaha World-Herald | July 27, 2014
'Buffalo's out of town property owners: just more absentee landlords?
"It's no secret Buffalo has its fair share of vacant properties. In fact, there are thousands of empty homes across the city."
Al Vaughters | WIVB | July 24, 2014
Editorial: Good signs for our cities
"Through all that, we can rebuild neighborhoods, house by house and block by block, yielding urban centers that thrive once again."
Editorial | The Times-Union | August 4, 2014
Tending to vacant lot can lead to ownership
"The Mow to Own program lets owners living next door to vacant lots in the city's land bank earn 'sweat equity' through their upkeep of the land."
Dominic Binkley | The Columbus Dispatch | July 26, 2014
Youngstown mayor focusing on demos, blight remediation, code enforcement
"When running for mayor, John A. McNally said it was vital to overhaul and improve the city's demolition and code-enforcement practices to make them more efficient."
David Skolnick | The Youngstown Vindicator | August 3, 2014
New Westmoreland County land bank cleans up blighted lots
"Two abandoned houses in West Newton are scheduled to be demolished later this year, the first project of the newly formed Westmoreland County Land Bank, which has a mission to buy and eliminate blighted properties."
Debra Duncan | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | July 24, 2014
Municipal officials schooled in ways to end blight in region
"Here's how pervasive the problem of blighted property is in Western Pennsylvania: The Steel Valley Council of Governments scheduled a meeting Thursday to distribute "Blight to Bright: A Comprehensive Anti-Blight Toolkit" to about 50 local officials but had to move the event to a gymnasium when more than 150 signed up for the program."
Ed Blazina | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | July 25, 2014
In north Omaha, art briefly brings condemned homes to life
"A lot of this project is in response to the idea that these houses have no value," White said, "the idea that you could build value in everything they touched. I tried to give weight to that. And the biggest part of that is the people."
Casey Logan | Omaha World-Herald | July 19, 2014
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HUD announces $1 Billion competition for disaster recovery ideas
"The latest contest in the federal government's new competition-based approach to disaster resilience was announced today, this one aimed at communities recently struck by catastrophic events."
Will Doig | Next City | July 16, 2014
Are mega-investors changing rental housing?
"New management options emerge as major investment players settle into the single-family marketplace. Alan Mallach, a senior fellow at Center for Community Progress, shares his thoughts."
Mariwyn Evans | | Realtor Magazine | July 16, 2014
City Limits: Chicago Harris's Gary Project joins forces with a dynamic new mayor to reframe the Indiana steel town's future
"An icy wind blew down Broadway, the main street in Gary, Indiana."
Richard Mertens | The University of Chicago Magazine | July/August 2014
(Editor's Note: Check out our interview with Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson about her vision for reframing downtown Gary)
N. Lafayette redevelopment agency to come to life
""It's been six years since state legislation created an agency to address blight and redevelopment in north Lafayette, and it may finally be coming to life."
Richard Burgess | The Advocate | July 18, 2014
Commentary: Tax sales tax city
"Baltimore City auctioned off more than $20 million worth of tax, water and other liens this spring in an online auction."
Robin Jacobs | The Baltimore Sun | July 9, 2014
The post-post-apocalyptic Detroit
"In downtown Detroit, at the headquarters of the online-mortgage company Quicken Loans, there stands another downtown Detroit in miniature."
Ben Austen | New York Magazine | July 11, 2014
Blight fight: Muskegon police spearhead effort to haul trash from alleys, abandoned homes
"The clean-up crew affiliated with the Muskegon Police Department got a surprise when it returned to finish clearing trash from an alley behind Jiroch Street recently: Neighbors had beaten them to it."
Lynn Moore | M Live | July 16, 2014
Eyesore east of Troost becomes a model home in Kansas City
"From the front porch of a newly painted house one can see an orchard of 95 apple, peach, pear, plum, nectarine and cherry trees, and anyone in the community can enjoy the fruit."
Lewis Diuguid | The Kansas City Star | July 5, 2014
Land bank could help neighborhoods with problem properties
"Omaha, NE- More than 7,000 parcels in Omaha have some level of code violation. 700 of those structures have demolition orders and nearly 4,000 have been deemed "unfit" or "unsafe", meaning they are uninhabitable and in need of significant repair."
Josh Egbert | KMTV | July 21, 2014
Omaha City Council OKs land bank as way to deal with dilapidated houses
"Omahans paraded to the City Council podium Tuesday to support a municipal land bank, and the city council voted unanimously to create one."
Christopher Burbach | Omaha.com | July 23, 2014
'Zombie' homes continue to gather weeds
"The neighbors of "zombie" properties — homes abandoned by the owners and in foreclosure limbo with a lender — will have to wait a little longer to see them cleaned up."
Barbara Livingston Nackman | | lohud | July 11, 2014
Land bank in Newburgh, N.Y., tasked with fixing up decay
"What we are saying when we create land banks is that vacant and abandoned properties are a form of litter, and it's simply time to change the laws to stop littering."
Ilya Marritz | NPR | July 7, 2014
Tackling Pittsburgh's blight problem, one small project at a time
"…Melanie Ondek, grants officer for the City of Pittsburgh, knows that multi-million dollar investments and lengthy bureaucratic processes aren't the only ways to chip away at the city's blight problem."
Liz Reid | WESA | July 7, 2014
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Obama administration expands affordable housing plan
"The Obama administration said on Thursday it would tap Treasury funds to bolster the construction of affordable rental housing and extend the life of a program aimed at helping homeowners avoid foreclosure."
Elvina Nawaguna | Reuters | June 26, 2014
Vacant-house fakery reborn as Cleveland to Camden fight blight
"If the technique that Toepfer calls aesthetic board-up is a stopgap, it's a cheap one, costing just $500 to $1000 per property, a fraction of demolition costs."
Elise Young/Bloomberg News | Chicago Tribune | July 5, 2014
L.A. foreclosure registry struggles to keep track of vacant homes
"California's real estate market may be bouncing back, but many communities are still littered with run-down foreclosures."
Steven Cuevas | The California Report | June 26, 2014
City looking to reduce number of vacant properties
"[City leaders] estimate there's 12,000 vacant properties in Jacksonville alone."
Samuel King | CBS47 WTEV | July 7, 2014
Can a poor Chicago neighborhood be reborn as a national park?
"An emerging trend in urban economic development has civic boosters turning to the National Park Service for support."
Sam Worley | Next City | July 7, 2014
For sale: Vacant lots on Chicago blocks, just $1 each
"Chicago is practically giving away land: vacant lots for just $1 each. The catch? To buy one, you must already own a home on the same block."
David Schaper | NPR | July 2, 2014
Editorial: Let municipalities create land banks
"The South Suburban Land Bank and Development Authority is working well in Chicago's south suburbs. Northwest Indiana needs something similar…"
The Times Editorial Board | Times Media Company | June 30, 2014
Fort Wayne awarded $4.7 million to demolish and develop vacant properties
"The money is coming from the Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program (BEP), which is a fund designed to give money to communities hit hard with vacant and blighted property."
Ian Hoover | INCNow NBC 33 | June 26, 2014
This Dubuque, Iowa master plan is a Rust Belt victory
"Decades of planning for a once-blighted section of Dubuque, Iowa are bearing fruit."
Andrew Dresdner | Planetizen | July 3, 2014
Vacant hospitals face uncertain future
"Many floors of Charity Hospital in New Orleans are somewhat of a time capsule of the day the facility was evacuated in August 2005 because of Katrina flooding: beds still unmade and IV poles still standing." Marsha Shuler | The Advocate | June 25, 2014
Online house auction raises $1M so far for Detroit
"The city's plan to auction abandoned homes in neighborhoods has raised more than $1 million in revenue, city officials said Thursday."
Darren A. Nichols | The Detroit News | June 26, 2014
Detroit needs residents, but sends some packing
"Tax foreclosures have grown so steeply that county officials have lately had to forgo pursuing tens of thousands of additional properties that have fallen far enough behind to risk foreclosure."
Monica Davey | The New York Times | June 26, 2014
Collapse a wake-up call: Chief exec wants another enforcement officer hired
"Chief Executive Matt Vincent called the warehouse collapse on South Wyoming Street a wake-up call Wednesday night, telling commissioners it's time to get tougher on owners of dilapidated buildings."
Mike Smith | The Montana Standard | July 3, 2014
Vacant buildings remain a blight to Jersey City neighborhoods
"Jersey City has 849 vacant buildings, 'the highest concentration in low-income sections of the city,' according to Darice Toon, the city's director of community development."
Ken Thorbourne | The Jersey Journal | June 27, 2014
Editorial: Effort by Isles to inventory Trenton's vacant, dilapidated houses provides starting point for progress
"As part of its decades of service to Trention, Isles Inc. has launched an effort to conduct an inventory of abandoned and dilapidated housing."
Matt Dowling/Times of Trenton | NJ.com | June 30, 2014
Pittsburgh land bank brings new tools to city's blight problem
"With Pittsburgh's new land bank, established in April, Guy hopes to reduce her workload and tap the neighborhood's potential more easily."
Irina Zhorov | 90.5 WESA | July 1, 2014
Eight inspiring urban revitalization projects
"Across the country, communities are rallying to beautify their public spaces, transforming abandoned concrete, metal and brick into vibrant city landmarks."
Feifei Sun | NationSwell | June 25, 2014
This article was originally published in the Summer 2014 issue of Breaking Ground, our quarterly newsletter. To receive Breaking Ground in your inbox, please join our email list.
It might go without saying, but the City of Flint in 2014 is very different from the Flint of 1960.
Decades of population loss have brought about a squeeze on public services, rising crime rates, a declining tax base, and, subsequently, vacancy and abandonment on an unprecedented scale.
That's why, early this year, after extensive community engagement and outreach, the City of Flint released its first master plan since 1960. The comprehensive Master Plan sets forth a blueprint for the successful growth of the City of Flint over the next 20 years.
(See Christina Kelly of the Genesee County Land Bank Authority discuss the Master Plan in our recent video produced by Next City)
Using the Master Plan as a starting point, Flint recently released Beyond Blight: City of Flint Comprehensive Blight Elimination Framework, which the City developed with advice and input from a number of stakeholders, including the Genesee County Land Bank Authority, the Flint Area Reinvestment Office, and the Center for Community Progress. The blight framework is a five-year work plan, applying the high-level long-term goals of the Master Plan to short-term concrete blight elimination work. It takes the vision laid out in the Master Plan, and asks, "Who exactly needs to do what in the next five years to tackle the city's blight problem?"
In a nutshell, the blight framework provides specific action steps to residents, local government, institutions, community groups, and businesses for each blight elimination activity (mowing, demolition, vacant lot reuse, etc.) in each place type (downtown, green space, traditional neighborhood). It also provides prioritization, so, in cases of limited funding, it is clear which activities should be first in line, who is going to execute that work, and where they should focus it.
While the path to blight elimination will not be easy, this framework is expected to coordinate all stakeholders and help them strategize in order to make the greatest positive impact on the City of Flint.
"Pay attention over the next year," said Natalie Pruett, author of the Blight Elimination Framework. "I think we are going to see the community doing more with what they currently have, and things are going to look better even if there isn't additional funding."
Understanding the Challenge
While, particularly since the mortgage crisis, cities all across the country are grappling with the issue of vacant properties, the scale of blight in Flint is striking.
"I see blight as a clear and present danger to Flint's future, because it undermines our efforts around neighborhood revitalization and public safety," Flint Mayor Dayne Walling remarked. "We know people, students, and families want decent neighborhoods with good schools and quality of life amenities. Reducing blight makes this possible."According to the framework, there are roughly 22,000 vacant properties in Flint, representing more than one-third of all the property in the city.[1]
Extensive efforts to curb Flint's blight are already underway. A number of stakeholders are expending significant effort and resources to tackle boarding, mowing, and demolition, among other blight reduction activities.
"Its hard work," said Pruett, "and most US residents don't live in places where they have to do things like this, so it's really important to acknowledge the work already going on."
For Flint to be able to not just manage but eliminate blight, however, these efforts have to be further strengthened and coordinated.
Defining the Financial Gap
In order to plot a course forward, the Blight Elimination Framework first seeks to measure the gap between the cost of removing blight from the City and the work already underway.
It puts an actual monetary value on the work being done by all parties, as well as the work left undone, giving a complete picture of the challenges Flint faces in respect to blight.
"I've not personally seen another plan come out that so strategically calculates the cost savings while making the case for change," said Danielle Lewinski, Vice President and Director of Michigan Initiatives at the Center for Community Progress.
After analyzing all the data, the framework found that the total cost of removing blighted properties over the next five years is $112,201,135.[2]
While mowing, boarding, and waste removal all contribute significantly to the overall blight elimination cost, demolition is by far the most expensive piece of the puzzle, encompassing 67% of the total.
Luckily, there is already significant work underway by a number of different stakeholders to address this enormous problem. For example, in 2013, over 1.8 million pounds of trash was removed from vacant lots during Love Your City Month[3], 2, 625 vacant properties were mowed by community groups, and 379 blighted structures were demolished by the Genesee County Land Bank.[4]
The total value of blight removal completed by all parties in 2013 was, however, only $12.31 million.[5]
That leaves a 5-year gap of $102.5 million dollars[6], a hefty sum for any city, much less a city the size of Flint. And, even by implementing mow strips and other creative cost-cutting tools, the cost exceeds what the city's coffers can cover.
Thus, one of the reasons this Blight Elimination Framework is so important is because it clearly demonstrates Flint's need to the city's partners at the federal and state level. Since it is such a detailed action plan, it can demonstrate to funders exactly where their money would go, even going so far as to outline exactly what would be achieved in four different funding scenarios, ranging from $66 million to $368 million.[7] In this way, the framework acts both as a governing document for actual work to be done, as well as a prioritized wish list for what Flint as a community would do if it received the money it needs to truly eliminate blight.
"I think that this lays a really good framework for additional private and public funding," said Pruett. "The City of Flint has identified, to a very detailed level, what the problem is, and how they want to fix it. In fact, this report very closely mirrors the things you'd be asked to provide in a grant proposal."
And that additional funding will be critical to achieving parts of this blight framework. "A majority of these costs are tied to bigger ticket items like demolition, and without federal resources we cannot do much of the work that needs to be done," said Christina Kelly, Director of Planning and Neighborhood Revitalization at the Genesee County Land Bank. "We are really dependent on our partners at the federal level to recognize the scale of the problem we face and support us with funding for blight elimination ." In Flint today, one out of every six commercial structures, and one out of every seven residential structures, is in need of demolition. [8]And it's not just publicly owned land that needs remediation. In fact, over $76 million, or 68 percent of the total blight elimination cost, is allocated for removing blight on privately owned property, [10] much of which is owned by people who live outside the city.
"People see blighted property and assume it is tax foreclosed and owned by the Genesee County Land Bank," said Kelly, "but the majority of blighted structures are privately owned. This framework will give people a new perspective on the reality of the situation and where the responsibility for solving this problem lies. We're all in this together."
Everyone Has a Part to Play
The strength of this blight framework lies not only in its explanation of the complexities of Flint's vacant property epidemic, but also in its ability to coordinate action plans for all stakeholder into a comprehensive approach.
Blight elimination efforts were not only undertaken by the local government, but by a diverse group of partners across the City. Thus, it was clear that a broad coalition of stakeholders had to be engaged to truly make an impact.
Naturally, then, the Blight Elimination Framework identifies and proposes work to be done not only by the local government, but also by businesses, residents, community organizations, and institutions – and it includes measures of success. While the framework in and of itself is not binding, it asks stakeholders to commit to expending the time and resources needed to achieve blight elimination.
For example, it challenges local business owners to pledge 5% of their current property maintenance budget to blight elimination,[11] and 50 community groups to commit to boarding 20 vacant properties each over the next 5 years.[12]
"I think basically it helps align all the different stakeholders and asks on each of those levels that they contribute more," said Kelly.
Right now, "If there is a problem with illegal dumping, there are at least 6 different entities that will respond to that problem," said Pruett. "They probably are not working together, and they each have different criteria. This framework is about defining roles. So one party says, 'Actually, I've got this. I'm the go-to for when there's illegal dumping.' It's more efficient."
"I think you also see a similar thing with mowing, too," Pruett added. "A lot of people are informally taking care of properties, but it's undocumented, so local government can't count on it, causing duplication and inefficiency. But if we had a commitment that residents were going to mow just the lot next door, the local government capacity to mow would be increased times four."
Thus, to promote coordination and efficiency, each of the framework's activities has a priority chart that clearly designates which stakeholder should do what work, as well as what work is most important.Strategy is Everything
As noted above, in the framework, each piece of the blight elimination puzzle — waste removal, boarding, demolition, mowing, vacant lot reuse, redevelopment, and code enforcement — has its own unique priority chart for neighborhood stabilization, as well as action steps and five-year benchmarks.
In addition, the Blight Elimination Framework also strategically breaks down activity by place type, making sure the largest positive impact is achieved for all of Flint's residents.
The Master Plan divided the City of Flint into 12 different place types, each with unique characteristics and opportunities. This Blight Elimination Framework builds on the Master Plan by creating distinct recommendations, action steps, and priorities for each of these place types, making it clear not only who is going to do what, but also where. "The value of knowing the future land use is that blight elimination efforts can be tailored to each place," said Mayor Walling. "In areas that are becoming green neighborhoods, there can be a focus on naturalizing vacant lots. In traditional neighborhoods, services might focus on mowing, beautification, or small community gardens. We want to get to a sustainable future land use as fast as possible, not just make blight a little less apparent."
The City of Flint, together with its public and private partners, is going to have make some tough choices in its revitalization efforts, but by having clear tasks and priorities that were developed through an extensive community engagement process, it will have the strategy and authority to make them.
"This plan gives us a better road map for decision-making and the justification we need to request funding to complete the work," said Kelly. "Aligning our work with these collectively defined priorities and improving coordination between the many groups working on blight elimination enables us to be more strategic as we work together to achieve the goals defined through the master planning process."
"Our prior blight efforts were about cleaning up an endless number of vacant properties and clearing endless amounts of weeds and trash, and there was no end in sight," said Mayor Walling. "With the framework of the city Master Plan and now the blight elimination plan, though, we're working together toward a positive outcome of neighborhood revitalization."
[1] Natalie Pruett, "City of Flint Comprehensive Blight Elimination Framework," 2014, p. 6.
[2] 9
[3] 18
[4] 8
[5] 8
[6] 10
[7] 94
[8] 28
[9] 32
[10] 11
[11] 37
[12] 26
[13] 35
This article was originally published in the Summer 2014 issue of Breaking Ground, our quarterly newsletter. To receive Breaking Ground in your inbox, please join our email list.
In February 2010, President Obama unveiled the Hardest Hit Fund, a United States Treasury program to use Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) repayments to provide targeted aid to families in states hit hard by the economic and housing market downturn. In total, the Treasury provided $7.6 billion in assistance to 18 states and the District of Columbia, selected on the basis of either high unemployment or steep home price declines. The program was designed to help people at risk of foreclosure with measures such as mortgage payment assistance, principal reduction, or support transitioning into more affordable homes.
By the end of 2011, however, public officials in a number of the states that had received HHF money – most notably Michigan and Ohio – were concerned that they were facing perhaps an even more urgent problem.
Thousands of houses were being abandoned in those states' cities, pushing down the value of neighboring properties, destabilizing neighborhoods, and indirectly exacerbating the very problem that HHF was trying to deal with: houses going into foreclosure and families losing their homes. Jim Rokakis, Executive Director of the Thriving Communities Institute in Cleveland and former Cuyahoga County Treasurer; and Dan Kildee, then Executive Director of the Center for Community Progress and now Member of Congress for Michigan's 5th District (and former Genesee County Treasurer), along with others, began to explore ways to raise more funding for demolitions in hard-hit cities like Cleveland, Flint or Detroit.
"We had to make the case for internalizing the externalities of blight and vacancy," said Kildee. "We had to prove to Treasury that abolishing vacant structures that will not be repurposed will reduce foreclosure from abandonment and that this is, in fact, primary prevention of foreclosures."
These advocates found a responsive ear at the Treasury Department, where key officials like Don Graves and David Dworkin had deep roots in those same cities. During 2012, in parallel with efforts to promote federal legislation – which proved unsuccessful – Treasury staff began to explore whether it might be possible to authorize demolition of derelict properties under the legal constraints of the TARP legislation.
Their efforts were supported by a growing body of research showing not only that abandoned properties have a significant, measurable effect on property values, but that demolition of those properties, under appropriate circumstances, can help reverse the damage. This research was critical in enabling the Treasury Department to demonstrate that demolition could have an impact on foreclosures.
By spring 2013, the Treasury Department was ready to make the change. Treasury staff had been in ongoing contact with officials in Michigan and Ohio, and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority started the ball rolling in April by making a formal request to the Treasury to use $100 million of the state's HHF money for demolition. Treasury moved quickly, and the request was approved in late May. Ohio followed suit soon thereafter, receiving approval to spend $60 million of its HHF money for demolition. Since then, Treasury has approved similar requests from Indiana ($75 million) and Illinois ($30 million).
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority decided to allocate all of its demolition funds to five particularly hard-hit cities – Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, Grand Rapids and Saginaw. Each city was then required to submit a plan showing how their demolition strategy would strengthen their communities and reduce the risk of foreclosures, and the program was officially launched in September 2013.
Ohio officials decided to implement the program using the state's network of county land bank authorities. They invited proposals from land banks through a competitive process that required each applicant to submit a plan, showing how demolition would be targeted as "part of a larger, comprehensive strategy to stabilize home values and prevent foreclosure." Proposals for an initial funding round of $50 million were invited in January 2014, allocations announced by the end of February, and funding agreements executed at the end of March. A second round of $10 million will take place this summer. Indiana exannounced its first funding awards in late May 2014, while Illinois' program is just getting under way.
The rapid development and ramp-up of this program reflects not only the general sense of urgency that people in Michigan, Ohio and elsewhere feel about the impact of derelict properties, but also the requirements of the HHF program, under which all money given to the states must be spent by the end of 2017. That is three and a half years away, but closer than it may seem. One of the conditions set by Treasury to make the blight elimination program conform to the TARP legislation is that the entity doing the demolition must own the property before they knock it down. While this is not a problem for land banks like the Genesee County Land Bank Authority which already has a large inventory of vacant properties, land banks that need to start acquiring properties from scratch will need all the time they can get.
The program is just getting off the ground – the first properties in Michigan are being demolished, while Ohio's land banks are not far behind. To date, implementation of the program has brought successes but also challenges. Some land banks have found the program structure, under which they do not receive up-front funds, but instead are reimbursed by the state as demolitions take place, to be a challenge, as it required them to secure additional financing. In Flint, Genesee County agreed to provide short-term debt financing for the program, while in Detroit, the land bank was able to negotiate a $6 million revolving line of credit.
There are still some question marks to be sorted out. The requirement that a lien be placed on each property for the demolition cost is still being fine-tuned, including the question of whether the liens can be released when an end user is found for the property within the three-year lien period; the level of historic preservation review for properties in historic districts also needs clarification.
Overall, though, the program seems on track to become a major boon for distressed communities. A particularly valuable feature of the program is that allowable costs include site greening – so that the vacant lot is a community asset rather than a potential nuisance itself – and site maintenance for three years; as Jim Rokakis says, this "has gotten a conversation started about beautification and green reuse options."
In Detroit, the scale of the program has spurred a level of interagency cooperation that did not previously exist, leading in turn to greater efficiency in the demolition process, as well as stronger demolition and environmental standards. In Ohio, the Lucas County Land Bank is partnering with the city of Toledo to do the demolitions in-house, which they estimate will reduce costs by around 20%. The Land Bank also plans to use part of the administrative money that comes with the program to conduct a parcel condition survey to help better target future blight elimination efforts.
Demolition alone is not the solution to urban blight or foreclosure, but it can make a major contribution to combating blight. The way in which the Treasury Department adapted the Hardest Hit program to this need, the ways Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois have taken advantage of the opportunity to create thoughtful state-level programs to fund demolition, and the ways in which land banks and other entities in those states have designed and implemented their programs shows that public agencies can respond creatively – and speedily – to address a need.
Community Progress is pleased to welcome Margi Dewar, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at The Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, and Mike Brown, President of the Prima Civitas Foundation, based in East Lansing, Michigan, to its Board of Directors. We recently spoke with Dr. Dewar and Mr. Brown about where their passion for community development came from, and their thoughts on what opportunities and challenges Michigan faces today.
In recent newsletters, we interviewed Erika Poethig, Institute Fellow and Director of Urban Policy Initiatives at the Urban Institute, and Presley Gillespie, Executive Director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. Thank you to all our board members for their dedication and hard work.
Mike Brown (MB):
As a young person growing up in Flint, Michigan in the mid-twentieth century, I was extremely lucky. The American auto industry was in its heyday, and Flint enjoyed the highest per capita income in the country. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation created the Flint Community Schools concept, providing opportunity for recreation, adult education and a wide variety of afterschool learning for kids.
Upon receiving an undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University and a Masters Diploma from the University of Stockholm in the mid-seventies, I returned home to find a Flint in the midst of change. Two significant events were taking place: 1) the formation of OPEC; and, 2) international competition in the auto industry. We then began more than a quarter century of decline.
So, what motivates me is a genuine respect for the people of the City and a love for the City itself that was so good to our family. To this day, Flint has tremendous assets that are helping shape a new and prosperous future for our citizens. We have four higher educational institutions, three quality medical centers, and a downtown area that has reinvigorated itself with new restaurants, housing and governmental institutions. One could make the argument that Land Banking in urban America started in Flint. In fact, the Center for Community Progress evolved out of that land bank history. Community Progress is now assisting communities throughout the country because of some of the innovative work that began in Flint. I am motivated and excited to be part of Community Progress and its mission to reduce blight and revitalize urban communities in America.
Margi Dewar (MD): People who live in Michigan's disinvested cities deserve a better quality of life. A resident or a business owner should be able to buy or lease the lot next door and put it to better use. A resident should not have to live next to a gutted structure. Children should not have to walk near derelict structures to go to school, a bus stop, or a corner store. I want the systems that can address these issues to work more efficiently and effectively than they do now.
I am an urban planning scholar. Research and practice in urban planning focus almost entirely on growth and development. We have little scholarship about what happens in heavily disinvested places and what effective approaches exist to influence those places' fortunes because people have not been interested in places where development was not an option. I want to change that by contributing to enriching scholarship that will help us understand such cities better and identify better solutions.
MB: There are three major factors that impact communities in relation to blight elimination:
A.) The shrinking tax base, loss of businesses, growth of Brownfields, and double digit unemployment in urban centers have created a monumental challenge for cities in Michigan.
B.) A lack of commitment and support from Federal and State government for urban revitalization, which leaves local communities with few resources to address critical issues like vacant housing.
C.) The development and implementation of a comprehensive blight elimination strategy. Just as important as having the resources to address blight, is HAVING A PLAN. This factor makes the work of the Center for Community Progress extremely vital. CCP was a key partner in helping Flint develop a blight elimination plan. It has provided similar support in cities like Detroit and New Orleans. Urban communities cannot get the job done on their own, they need a plan and the resources to execute the plan.
MD: City and state officials and some private sector leaders talk as if demolishing all derelict structures and enforcing codes will solve the blight problem. But blight will just reemerge with new derelict structures and more neglect because these efforts do not address the underlying causes of disinvestment. The free-for-all of housing construction at the metropolitan fringe adds housing units at a rate much higher than the increase in households to occupy those houses, so guarantees abandonment of older housing at the core of the metro area. We need greater restrictions on new development in greenfield areas. Further, the departure of jobs and people over the last 60 years has taken the cities' property tax base with it because jurisdictional boundaries define taxing areas. This means that central cities lose the financial capacity to deliver city services. Lack of adequate city services encourages more of the households with choices to leave. Without sharing of tax base or tax revenues across jurisdictions, the loss of population is likely to continue. For both reasons, disinvestment will continue. I do not know anyone with political influence in the state who is willing to address these underlying causes of disinvestment in cities.
MB: My career over the past forty years has been in public service. I have had the honor and privilege of working with and for some of the smartest and most dedicated men and women in the public and nonprofit sector. On the grassroots level, I have witnessed the commitment and perseverance of block club and neighborhood leaders. The potential for rebirth and revitalization of cities like Flint and Detroit starts with its people, an infusion of new resources and, maybe most importantly, local, state and federal government commitment to the development and implementation of sound blight elimination strategies.
MD: I have worked with amazing people in Detroit and Flint. They include heroes working every day to save their neighborhoods from the last decade's tidal wave of mortgage foreclosures, neighborhood leaders who inspire others to action and give them hope of a better place to live in the future, and visionaries who can see the potential in a neglected park, a contaminated site, or a derelict historic structure. I often feel that if only more support existed for their work, neighborhoods would be much better off. If their efforts can restore confidence in the future of neighborhoods, fewer people will decide to leave.
MB: The project that makes me most excited in Flint is the Blight Elimination plan announced by the City in early May of 2014. The City, with myriad partners, including the Flint Area Reinvestment Office, Genesee County Land Bank and the Center for Community Progress, has developed a comprehensive plan of action. The most exciting potential in this plan is to demonstrate that local government working in collaboration with state and federal partners can have a positive impact on blight. The city, with private and nonprofit partners, can finish the job of revitalization. The real prospect of turning the corner on blight is a rewarding feeling.
MD: I very much hope that Mayor Duggan of Detroit will succeed in his efforts to deal with crime, demolitions, and delivery of city services. He's a capable administrator so I am watching optimistically.
MB: Dave Hollister, former Mayor of Lansing, talks about three P's when it comes to advice for those who want to make a difference: plan, partner and persevere.
If you plan well you will work smarter and more efficiently.
If you partner you can accomplish so much more, especially in this time of diminishing resources and increasing challenges.
If you persevere you will see progress over time. Sometimes, especially with issues such as blight, it is easy to lose sight of the goal. However, if you have a plan, you enlist the help of partners and you persevere you will enjoy a sense of accomplishment.
MD: If the young professional has a degree that has provided background on these issues, he or she should go to Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, St. Louis, or any of the many other cities grappling with these challenges. If he or she volunteers with interesting organizations and networks energetically, that person will find a very interesting job working on these issues.
If the young professional does not have a degree that has provided background, that person should come to the University of Michigan for a Master of Urban Planning degree where we work on these issues every day!]]>
This article was originally published in the Summer 2014 issue of Breaking Ground, our quarterly newsletter. To receive Breaking Ground in your inbox, please join our email list.
In mid-March, more than sixty professionals descended on Cambridge, Massachusetts to discuss solutions for blight and vacancy in their cities at the Community Progress Leadership Institute. All sixty were leaders in their fields: councilmembers, commissioners, attorneys, department heads, and nonprofit directors, and had taken the time out of their busy schedules to attend.
The three days included many meaningful exchanges, but Michael Braverman, Deputy Commissioner of Permits & Code Enforcement for Baltimore, catalyzed one of the most powerful moments of the institute.
"How did you do it?" was the question at hand. Just the day before, Braverman had shared Baltimore's code enforcement story: his department has developed a model that has dramatically decreased blight and boosted responsiveness, without any corresponding increase in budget. It was the result of efficiency, sophistication, organizational culture – and leadership.
Now, Eric Martin of Cambridge Leadership Associates was interviewing Michael to dig a bit deeper into how these changes were achieved and what kind of leadership skills had been required.
One lesson I've learned in this field is that it doesn't matter very much if a city has all the latest tools and technical knowhow, if it lacks strong leadership that can drive change even in the face of obstacles and skeptics. And this leadership can be exercised by people at all levels of government and outside of government, not simply by those at the top.
This is part of the reason why we brought these sixty leaders from eight different cities to our Community Progress Leadership Institute (CPLI) on the campus of Harvard Law School in March. CPLI is an intense leadership and technical training program that prepares city and civic leaders to return to their communities with both the tools and the leadership skills needed to have a positive impact on their communities by reducing blight and vacancy. Delegations from Wilmington, Delaware; Springfield, Massachusetts; Battle Creek, Michigan; Detroit, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Huntington, West Virginia; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin joined us at CPLI to learn from faculty and each other.
CPLI's technical sessions cover everything from land banking and code enforcement to tax foreclosure and neighborhood markets. Just as importantly, the entire program is tied together by leadership training sessions that give participants the chance to take a step back and think about how they can most effectively lead change and by a series of small group action meetings for each of the city delegations at which they begin to jointly develop next steps to take back at home.
As participants learned, and as Michael demonstrated, leadership isn't about exercising authority. It's about being willing to take risks and disrupt the status quo, regardless of title or position. In Baltimore, leaders both inside and outside of government demonstrated a willingness to adopt a new approach to vacancy – one which recognized the need to make tough, sometimes unpopular, strategic decisions driven by market data. As Michael Braverman explained, successful adoption of these changes required several key leadership skills, among them a willingness to demonstrate flexibility in the face of constant change and an ability to build trust and wide-spread support over time through improved responsiveness and positive results. The change in both organizational culture and strategic decision-making that resulted has had a transformative impact on operations and outcomes.
It's challenging to find the space to think about what it takes to be an effective leader amid the stresses of daily work life. It is our hope that CPLI creates one such space, where partners and colleagues can contemplate and develop their important role as leaders.]]>
(It looks different around here: Our new brand, and what it means)
A city's 'walkability' drives real estate values
"Car shares, bike shares, improved rapid transit and teleworking."
Diana Olick | NBC News | June 17, 2014
Banking on it: Neighborhoods hit by foreclosure look to Cook County Land Bank
"The morning of the fire, Leona Thompson woke to the smell of smoke."
Robin Amer | Medill Reports Chicago | June 10, 2014
South suburban land bank making progress
"The South Suburban Land Bank and Development Authority has been operational for just over a year now, and has made exciting progress."
Ed Paesel | nwitimes | June 22, 2014
Special report: Nuisance properties a headache for D.M.
"A filthy, dangling blue tarp exposes a gaping hole in a dilapidated house with boarded-up windows in Des Moines' historic River Bend neighborhood."
Grant Rodgers | The Des Moines Register | Jun 16, 2014
A new portal to pair eager developers and underused properties
"Back in April, Louisville's WDRB posted an affecting story about Louisville Gardens, the former Jefferson County Armory, which opened in 1905."
Kriston Capps | The Atlantic City Lab | June 13, 2014
Abandoned buildings, lots challenge for city
"No one looks out from the shattered windows or relaxes on the rickety front porches."
Matthew Glowicki | The Courier-Journal | Jun 21, 2014
Duggan creates 'innovation district' to spur jobs in downtown, Midtown
"Mayor Mike Duggan said Thursday that an area encompassing downtown and Midtown will become the city's first "innovation district," an area with an anchor company that attracts other businesses."
Darren A. Nichols | Detroit News | June 12, 2014
Michigan land banks: 10 years of struggles and successes
"In the wake of the national foreclosure crisis, Oakland County treasurer Andy Meisner says metro Detroit's real estate situation is a "problem statement" that could be solved by the unique entity known as a land bank."
Patrick Dunn | Metromode | Jun 12, 2014
Wayne County treasurer suing to recover homes of tax scofflaws
"The Wayne County Treasurer's Office is suing hundreds of property owners to recover nearly 23,000 homes sold in auctions since 2011 after the new buyers failed to pay property taxes."
Marlon A. Walker | Detroit Free Press | Jun 23, 2014
A gleam of renewal in struggling Detroit
"Corktown, once a desolate strip just west of downtown Detroit, is a serious hotbed of new restaurants, bars, hotels and more, all sitting in the shadow of one of the most glaring icons of Detroit's demise, the skeleton of the old train depot, Michigan Central Station."
Julie Alvin | New York Times | June 17, 2014
Understanding blighted properties: Jackson's property values and future growth depend on tackling abandoned property
"Rows of abandoned homes clutter the streets of Jackson, a symptom of the fluctuating economy and population shifts from the last several decades."
Editorial| The Clarion Ledger | Jun 19, 2014
After the crash, banks paid billions. Where'd it all go?
"Newburgh, a run-down city on the Hudson River, has become a laboratory for a block-by-block method of rehabbing abandoned buildings." Ilya Marritz | WNYC | Jun 17, 2014
Land bank can bridge economic, community development
"In 2011, New York passed legislation authorizing the creation of land banks to acquire delinquent, vacant, abandoned and foreclosed properties and return them to productive use."
Stacey Duncan | pressconnects | Jun 13, 2014
Trenton group on mission to get accurate count of vacant and abandoned buildings in the city
"Unkempt and ugly homes virtually falling down on themselves appear on most every block in Trenton, but it has been five years since the last thorough tally of how many vacant and abandoned buildings mar the city's streets."
Jenna Pizzi | The Times of Trenton | Jun 24, 2014
Busting blight: Toledo's problems with blight are still manageable — if the city acts now
"For anyone who still needs convincing, The Blade's report on blight — The Ugly Truth About Toledo — graphically showed that Toledo shares the urban problems of Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and central cities nationwide."
Editorial | Toledo Blade | Jun 18, 2014
Selling gentrification to neighbors of the old West Philadelphia high school building
"After nearly two years of back and forth, the Philadelphia School District and City Council are all but ready to sell the former site of West Philadelphia High School, closed in 2011."
Waleed Shahid | WHYY | Jun 19, 2014
Abandoned Mt. Airy property taken over by community actor ready for move-in
"No one knows exactly how long the house on the unit block of Phil Ellena lay vacant. City records show it's been empty since at least Sept. 2011."
Neema Roshania | WHYY | Jun 7, 2014
City of San Antonio looks to collect from owners of vacant buildings
"San Antonio's City Council has unanimously approved a new ordinance that could create a backlash among property owners in select neighborhoods — and among residents in areas not included."
W. Scott Bailey | San Antonio Business Journal | Jun 19, 2014
Used ice cream truck is Detroit's latest weapon against blight
"The latest weapon in Detroit's battle against blight: a used ice cream truck."
Paul Beshouri | Detroit Curbed | June 12, 2014
That was the call to action George McCarthy issued during a keynote address to the nearly 100 attendees at the Michigan Land Bank Leadership Summit (MLBLS), who represented over 30 counties throughout the State of Michigan, primarily as land bank staff and board members.
U.S. Congressman Dan Kildee joined McCarthy, director of Metropolitan Opportunity at the Ford Foundation, and soon-to-be president of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, for the Summit's keynote. The two shared personal stories of leadership and exhorted the summit attendees to be not only leaders in their communities' blight fighting efforts, but also to act as an innovative model for the whole country to follow as an example.
Over the course of two days in Traverse City, Michigan, MLBLS attendees discussed the myriad challenges in their communities, ranging from creative green reuse projects, to data-driven decision making, to crisis communications. The land bank leaders also deliberated real-world scenarios. For example, given descriptions of seven different properties ranging from $30,000 to $90,000, and told they only had $100,000 to spend, participants defended and discussed hypothetical spending plans.
The land bank leaders not only learned from MLBLS faculty, but also from each other. While the land banks varied in capacity and resources — the number of full-time staff ranged from 0 to 45 — common interests and challenges created ground for productive exchanges. The event was designed to help Michigan land bank leaders build connections that will enable them to effect change in Lansing, Washington, and beyond.
View the MLBLS photo album on Facebook.
We would like to acknowledge our Platinum Sponsors, the Local Initiative Support Support Coalition of Michigan and the Michigan Housing and Development Authority, our Gold Sponsor, the Michigan Association of Land Banks, and the continued support of the Ford Foundation and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.]]>


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1-10 of 392 flats to rent found
£640 pw
1 bed apartment to rent
£1,900 pw
3 bed apartment to rent
£550 pw
2 bed apartment to rent
£725 pw
2 bedroom apartment to rent High Holborn, Holborn
Immaculate two double bedroom, two bathroom second floor furnished apartment in this sought after modern building situated in the heart of Holborn next to Chancery Lane station, this property is close to LSE and the London Universities. More details ›
Added on 30/08/2014 by Next Property, London. Call: 020 7118 0000 Local call rate
£450 pw
1 bedroom apartment to rent Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1N
A fantastic 775sq foot one bedroom apartment set on the first floor of a converted house in an iconic Bloomsbury street within easy walking distance of Russell Square. The property benefits from having a large bedroom with an abundance of storage space, seperate fully fitted kitchen, shower room ... More details ›
£900 pw
1 bedroom flat to rent Marconi House, 335 Strand, London, WC2R 1HA
A stunning 1 bedroom apartment located in a new development set beyond a Grade II listed façade on the corner of Aldwych and the Strand. Comprising reception room with fully integrated open-plan kitchen, one separate studio bedroom with fitted wardrobes and a deluxe bathroom suite. (contd...) More details ›
£575 pw
2 bedroom flat to rent GREAT QUEEN STREET, London, WC2B
A recently refurbished modern two double bedroom first floor flat, reception room, fully fitted & equipped kitchen & bathroom, located a few moments walk to Covent Garden or Holborn tube station, available for a long term rental from 19th September 2014. More details ›
£395 pw
1 bedroom flat to rent GREAT JAMES STREET, London, WC1N
A newly refurbished one dble bdrm grd flr flat located in a period building, modern but retains many period features including high ceilings, original cornicing & ornate fireplaces to both the bdrm & recep rm, within walking distance of Chancery Lane & Holborn tube stations. More details ›
£419 pw| £1,816 pcm Guide Price
Guide Price £419 pw
1 bedroom flat to rent Guilford Street, Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury WC1N
A spacious and immaculately presented one bedroom first floor apartment situated just moments from Russell Square. Located in the heart of Bloomsbury the flat is ... More details ›
Reduced on 29/08/2014 by My Online Estate Agent, Ribchester. Call: 01254 915588 Local call rate
£449 pw
1 bedroom apartment to rent DRURY LANE, London, WC2B
Very large, approx 550sqft, bright top floor 1 bedroom fully furnished apartment with brand new carpet, separate kitchen and excellent storage space. Available now. More details ›
£475 pw
2 bedroom flat to rent Boswell Street, WC1N
Set in the heart of Bloomsbury this bright two bedroom flat offers two double bedrooms a large open plan kitchen & reception room and a separate bathroom. The flat is located within comfortable walking distance of Holborn underground and is ideal for two sharers More details ›
£850 pw
2 bedroom flat to rent Hatton Place, Clerkenwell, EC1N
Tucked away on a quite lane in historic Clerkenwell close to the infamous Hatton Garden jewellery district, we offer this impressive two bedroom duplex apartment. (contd...) More details ›
£500 pw
2 bedroom flat to rent Red Lion Street, Holborn, London, WC1R 4PF
Hunters are proud to offer this beautiful two bedroom apartment situated close to HOLBORN station. The property comprises of two large bedrooms, modern kitchen and living area and bathroom with W/C. The property is available now. Contact 0208 903 1234 for viewings! More details ›
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subset: commoncrawl


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Promoting Civil Society between Arab and Jewish Israelis: An NGO's Perspective
June 21, 2002 // 12:00am
Shuli Dichter and As'ad Ghanem, co-directors of Skkiuy- a Jewish-Arab advocacy organization dedicated to achieving civic equality between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.
Preventing the Next Wave of Conflict: Understanding Non-Traditional Threats to Global Security - Economic and Social Disparities
June 20, 2002 // 12:00am
Nicholas Sambanis, Associate Director of United Nations Studies at Yale University
From Conflict to Peace: The Case of Sri Lanka
June 11, 2002 // 12:00am
U.S. Ambassador (ret.) Edward Marks; Sri Lankan Ambassador (ret.) Ernest Corea; and Dr. Karunyan Arulanantham.
Peacekeeping: Present Trends and Implications for the Future
June 11, 2002 // 12:00am
Jean-Marie Guéhenno, United Nations Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations
Preventing the next Wave of Conflict: Understanding Non-Traditional Threats to Global Security
May 31, 2002 // 12:00am
Julia Taft, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, United Nations Development Program
Book Launch: No More Killing Fields: Preventing Deadly Conflict
May 16, 2002 // 12:00am
Author David A. Hamburg, Executive Vice President of the United Nations Foundation and Consulting Director of the Conflict Prevention Project Jane Holl Lute and Swedish Ambassador to the United States, Jan Eliasson.
Challenges for International Justice and Reconciliation
May 14, 2002 // 12:00am
Ambassador David J. Scheffer, Senior Vice-President, UNA-USA and Former Ambassador-At-Large for War Crimes Issues.
Book Launch: A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
May 14, 2002 // 12:00am
Author Samantha Power, is the Executive Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and Wilson Center Fellow Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch.
Book Launch: The Great North Korean Famine: Famine, Politics, and Foreign Policy
April 30, 2002 // 12:00am
Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
On America's Doorstep: Disease Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean
April 25, 2002 // 12:00am
Dr. Stephen Corber, Director of Disease Prevention and Control Division for the Pan American Health Organization, and Regional Office of the World Health Organization; George C. Fidas, Intelligence Officer-in-Residence at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.


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This week, Under-15 teams from around the world are contesting the Manchester United Premier Cup. Here, Reds skipper Gary Neville shares his experiences of youth football.
As a young lad I'd play against teams from Salford, Rochdale, Bolton... we hardly played kids from London, let alone Brazil. I was never exposed to different styles of football before I came to United and played at youth tournaments. And there's no doubt in my mind that they helped me develop into a better player. A lot of players I played alongside in those competitions have gone on to play first-team football, whether that's at United or somewhere else.
I'm keeping an eye on this year's Premier Cup and I'd like to think the best team will win. But that's not always the case. Luck is obviously a factor, particularly in knockout football. Team spirit is also incredibly important, while the draw can also influence the results. Form, injuries, the weather... they all play their part. Anybody could win this tournament.


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Find an Internship or Volunteer in Crawfordsville, Indiana ( IN )
If you're looking for internships or volunteer work in Crawfordsville, Indiana or even to get a summer job, you've come to the right place! With over 30,000 around the county, chances are that GrooveJob.com has the right job for you and wants to be your only source for finding internships and volunteer positions in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
We've got plenty of intern and volunteer work in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Check out the list of employers below who have positions in Crawfordsville. Remember to check back with Groovejob.com on a regular basis. We add new internships and volunteer jobs listings to our database every week, so you'll find new opportunities every time you check back with us.
|Browse by Employer (Click On Logos)
|Click for Intern or Volunteer at INROADS
|Click for Intern or Volunteer at TOP COMPANY - GOOGLE
Jobs by Title
Sponsorship Sales/Event Marketing Intern
…a driven, organized, results oriented individual who likes to work hard. This internship will allow students to gain exceptional...
Indianapolis, IN
Marketing Internship
…and secure the consumer for the client directly. Job Description: Marketing Internship Location: Indianapolis Job Summary: Intern ...
Indianapolis, IN
Sports Management - Events & Customer Services Intern
Events & Customer Services - NFL Flag & NFL Punt, Pass & Kick Intern Specific responsibilities include: * Provide customer...
Indianapolis, IN
Sales MT Intern (Summer 2015)
…coffee Our interns go at a highly energized pace. From day one as a paid intern with Enterprise, you'll learn what it takes to run a...
Lafayette, IN
Sports Management - Sports Agency Marketing and Operations Intern
…Editing and AV skills are a plus The time frame in which the internship takes place will vary on candidate availability. (Sports...
Indianapolis, IN
Sponsorship Sales/ Event Marketing for the Indiana State Fair Intern - Entertainment and Media Industry Opportunity
…a driven, organized, results oriented individual who likes to work hard. This internship will allow students to gain exceptional...
Indianapolis, IN
Premium Seat Sales/ Event Coordinator Intern - Entertainment and Media Industry Opportunity
…individual who likes to work hard and have fun while doing so. This internship will allow students to gain exceptional experience in...
Indianapolis, IN
Sponsorship Intern - Entertainment and Media Industry Opportunity
…individual who likes to work hard and have fun while doing so. This internship will allow students to gain exceptional experience in...
Indianapolis, IN
Special Events Intern - Entertainment and Media Industry Opportunity
…promoting events to clients and execution of meetings and special events. As an intern in the events department, you will have the...
Indianapolis, IN
Internship - Resident Activity
…and focused individual to assist in our Activities Department as a **Resident Activities Intern **. Our Activity Internship is...
Lafayette, IN
Recruitment Internship
…focused individual to assist in our Talent Engagement Team as a **Recruitment Support** Intern **.** Our Recruitment Support ...
Lafayette, IN
2015 Campus Recruiting Internship - Research and Development - Dow AgroSciences
…communication, organizational, teamwork and time management skills are essential. * Intern Responsibilities:* * Participate in all...
West Lafayette, IN
Panda Express - Restaurant Manager Internship - West Lafayette, Indiana - Mid East
…leaders that have the interest and ability to grow with us. The Panda Internship Program for Restaurant Operations is designed to give...
West Lafayette, IN
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Juju is looking for a Paid Intern with a strong knowledge of Python. Initial responsibilities will be writing and maintaining XML...
Crawfordsville, IN
Football Operations Associate ( Intern )
Football Operations Associate ( Intern ) - West Lafayette - Intercollegiate Athletics(Job Number: 1402430) Description Assist the Director...
West Lafayette, IN
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Graphics Designer Associate ( Intern ) - West Lafayette - Intercollegiate Athletics( Job Number: 1402397) Description Work with the Senior...
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The Software Automation Test Intern works everyday on new innovations that focus on direct and immediate problem solving. MAJOR...
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Software Engineer, Test Intern Internship | Indianapolis, IN Send Jobvite Apply Now The Software Automation Test Intern works...
Indianapolis, IN
Intern Trainee Developer
The developer intern -trainee will be responsible for implementing and maintaining software products according to detailed engineering...
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The Estate Episode guide
Episode 8
8/8 Kelly Ann must make a big decision. Emma comes out fighting after some bad news.
First broadcast: 12 Mar 2012
Episode 7
7/8 Jim relapses and Louise discovers that she is to become a grandmother.
First broadcast: 05 Mar 2012
Episode 6
6/8 There is romance in the air for Kyle. Emma reveals a personal tragedy.
First broadcast: 27 Feb 2012
Episode 5
5/8 There is romance in the air for Kelly Ann. Louise takes delivery of some charity furniture
First broadcast: 20 Feb 2012
Episode 4
4/8 Emma deals with a tragedy for one of her alcoholic clients.
First broadcast: 13 Feb 2012
Episode 3
3/8 Martin continues his battle with the bottle and Noel helps build a new drop-in centre.
First broadcast: 06 Feb 2012
Episode 2
2/8 Martin's alcoholism forces him to beg. Kyle looks forward to partying in his new flat.
First broadcast: 30 Jan 2012
Episode 1
1/8 Charting a year in the lives of the residents of a Coleraine housing estate.
First broadcast: 23 Jan 2012


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Shanghai Fish Inn Bund Reviews
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The rating percentage is calculated from customers who booked within the last 12 months.
All ratings and reviews are based on the feedback and opinions of the customers who submitted them and do not express the opinions of Hostelworld.com. This way, you get an up-to-the-minute opinion of just how good a hostel really is.
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Excellent location, rooms were clean and homly.. Nice touch having split living/bedroom area. Not many ammimiities inside the hostel, but the centre is a quick 3 minute walk so it doesn't matter too much. Two receptionists were lovely and helpful, Paris (day staff) was very polite, helped with directions and aviced us around shanghai.. Also the night receptionist was lovely.. Again very helpful! Shame the rest of the team aren't so great with there manners.
- Novice Nomad
- Anonymous
- Ireland
- Couple, 25-30
- (5 reviews)
Great location - walking distance to everything in the heart of Shanghai. Good sized room with facilities. Lovely helpful staff who organised our night at the acrobatics show for us. We really enjoyed our stay here!
- Avid Traveller
- annie_whitaker70
- Australia
- Female, 25-30
- (12 reviews)
Very good stay for four nights. Bed was comfortable, good shower, staff were kind and helpful plus having English and the location is very convenient. Family Mart close by sells Tim Tams as well as other necessities. China Mobile are across the road. Room 311 was small, poor lighting and a hatstand acts as a wardrobe. The Wifi was poor the whole time. Finally, there was a glitch with their payment processing system that froze money in my account and I thought it could have been handled better.
- Novice Nomad
- Anonymous
- Australia
- Female, 41+
- (1 review)
Excelent hostel. Perfectly located and really nice people. It was the best bed we had during our trip.
- Novice Nomad
- Anonymous
- Spain
- Couple, 25-30
- (8 reviews)


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Jeff Dunham
Jeff Dunham
Jeff Dunham
Jeff Dunham and Walter
Jeff Dunham and Achmed
Jeff Dunham and Peanut
Look, it's Jeff Dunham. Why isn't anybody laughing?
jeff dunhams achmed
It's refreshing to see a real woman on TV. Just kidding.
He's looking at you look at him make porn
This one's almost too easy
A lonely guys sign advertising his friendship
Give Jeff a call. Jeff needs to chat.
Jeff Hardy
The video guy
best wrestler of all time.
Jeff Hardys Leg Drop On Edge At Wrestlemania 23!!
jeff hardy


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Artist: SMKA
Featuring: Yelawolf
Producer: SMKA
Album: The 808 Experiment (Volume 2)
Avg Rating: 3.9 ( 16 total votes )
Every since Tupac made loving your mama cool more than a decade ago, even the hardest rappers have seemingly felt the need to profess their love for their own mothers; or, in Yelawolf's case, reminisce about how she used to put NyQuil in his baby bottle. An anti-"I love you mom" track of sorts, Yela's Deer Mama takes a southern soaked, 70's-esque, high hat stuttering beat from 808 Blake of production duo SMKA and flips it into an unflinching look at his younger years spent with a drug addicted mother. In typical Yela fashion, the Bama emcee pulls in references from everyone to The Fugees to Outkast to craft his tale, a tale that ultimately ends on a hopeful note: "I can't change that picture, but I can throw it in a better frame." His relationship with his mom was far from ideal, but at least he's translating those struggles into great music. For more dopeness be sure to check out Yelawolf's Trunk Muzik mixtape, and SMKA's The 808 Experiment (Vol. 2), due out next Monday, January 18.
Listen to More: SMKA , Yelawolf
Written by Nathan S. on 01/12/10
First DJ Booth Appearance:
"The Gift" (2012)
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The force was strong for Star Wars action figures. Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and R2-D2 join the centuries-old game of dominoes in the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester.
The action figures and dominoes were inducted today.
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So far, 49 toys have made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
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LatinVision Media News
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Dubai targets Latin America for tourism growth
Dubai's tourism authority is planning to open an office in South America as it hopes fast-growing Latin economies such as Brazil and Argentina will supply an influx of visitors to the emirate.
"We are looking into South America," said Hamad bin Mejren, the executive director of business tourism at the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
"That is a market we are concentrating on. I assure you we have plans to open an office in South America. When Emirates [Airline] flies to a destination, we work together."
Read full article
22 comments:
I would travel only by horse, if I had the choice.ReplyDelete
Flights to Gaborone
Cheap Flights to Gaborone
Desert Safari In Dubai ( ROYAL EAGLE TOURISM )ReplyDelete
We at Royal Eagle Toursim are committed to provide a Destination Management Service of the most modem and highest standards offering outstanding value for money. Our team is available to you, "Speaks the same language" and brings ideas, creativity, hard work and high levels of personal commitment to assure clients'goals and objectives are met and exceeded.
Royal Eagle Toursim specializes in Desert Safari in Dubai, Dhow Cruise, Luxury Yachts, Fishing, Hotel Listing, Visa Services and Many Other Services.
Desert Safari in Dubai, Desert Safari Dubai, Desert Safari, Dhow Cruise, Luxury Yachts, visa services in dubai
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
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Dubai Desert Safari is very nice place for tour i like it very muchReplyDelete
Desert Safari in Dubai is really one of the beautiful place which people really like..Thanks for sharing interesting articleReplyDelete
Market Data
Dubai Desert Safari is wonderful and so amazing place on earth. .. i like it very much.Good informatics blog.ReplyDelete
Abu dhabi tourism
dhow cruise dubai is very nice location for the trip i love it very much nice blogReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
Great place where you can enjoy your trip desert safari DubaiReplyDelete
Dubai is always preferred among tourists, people come to this city for entertainment. You will see amazing, huge and superb buildings. People love to visit.ReplyDelete
Desert Safari Dubai
Desert Safari Dubai Great place where you can enjoy your trip of Dubai.ReplyDelete
Great place where you can enjoy your trip dhow cruise in Dubai..ReplyDelete
desert safari Dubai is place where you can enjoy dune bashing as well..ReplyDelete
Great place where you can enjoy your trip dhow cruise Dubai..ReplyDelete
Dubai Desert Safari one of the best thing for fun with Dinner.ReplyDelete
Dhow Cruise Dubai is always preferred among tourists people come to this city for entertainmentReplyDelete
Dhow Cruise Dubai i must say it is nice share where you can enjoy your family dinner..ReplyDelete
Great family and friends trip Desert Safari Dubai.ReplyDelete
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Arun Panchariya in Dubai
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"You have people come into your life shockingly and surprisingly. You have losses that you never thought you'd experience. You have rejection and you have learn how to deal with that and how to get up the next day and go on with it"
(Source: amypdon)
Why did you say six months? Why did you say five minutes?
(Source: pondsie)
adorable Irish King Colin | Comic Con 2014
(Source: captainswand)
(Source: darkparadiseprodz)
Favourite Movies: Matilda (1996)"Everyone is born, but not everyone is born the same. Some will grow to be butchers, or bakers, or candlestick makers. Some will only be really good at making Jell-O salad. One way or another, though, every human being is unique and special, for better or for worse."
Rose Tyler per Episode | The End of the World
The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves, no one saw it go. All those years. All that history and no one was even looking.
girls shouldn't be waiting for romeo they should be waiting for steve rogers
(Source: robertdowneysjr)
i'm constantly torn between wanting to watch new shows, re-watching old shows and attempting to have a life that doesn't revolve around shows


text:
Labor Day Closures
All park sites closed Monday, September 1, for Labor Day. Follow the link for information about park hours and days and about access to the Barataria Preserve and Chalmette Battlefield/Chalmette National Cemetery on holidays. More »
Event Details
Every Tuesday Weekly & Every Wednesday Weekly & Every Thursday Weekly & Every Friday Weekly & Every Saturday Weekly from 03/12/2014 to 03/22/2014Location: French Quarter Visitor Center, New Orleans | Map Time: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Fee Information: free Contact Name: French Quarter Visitor Center, New Orleans Contact Email: e-mail us Contact Phone Number: 504-589-2636 ext. 1
Immigrants from Sicily brought the tradition of a St. Joseph's Day altar with them to their new homes in New Orleans, and each year on March 19, altars are created in homes and churches throughout the city. Ann and Laura Guccione will create an altar at the visitor center on Wednesday, March 12; it will remain on display through Saturday, March 22.
The French Quarter Visitor Center is located at 419 Decatur St. in New Orleans.


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Charter Schools in Beaufort County Schools
- Sorry, no school data currently available for this search.
About Beaufort County Schools
Beaufort County Schools is a school district with 6,980 students. Beaufort County Schools spends $8,358 per year per student. 67% of students here receive reduced price lunches. The most common ethnicities are White, non-Hispanic and Black, non-Hispanic. Pamlico County Schools is a nearby district and has the same rating as Beaufort County Schools. Pamlico County Schools's rating is 5 while Beaufort County Schools's rating is 5.


text:
Me and my ex girlfriend were making the most of her free house for the week, as her parents were away somewhere in Europe. We thought that as her parents were home the following evening, we would get some food, light a fire, watch a DVD, go take a bath together and shag like rabbits while we had the house to ourselves.
Well we got as far as the DVD before we started to get frisky. She really was in a naughty mood and wanted me to do her on the sofa, but we didn't get a house to ourselves very often and I really wanted to make use of her bath. She agreed, and we got up from the sofa, I took her top off, she took off mine. We were kissing as we were shuffling out of her front room, we got near the window and I checked to make sure that the curtains were closed and they were. I took her bra off, she started to undo my belt and pulled my trousers down. She dropped to her knees and started to give me a blow job, I pulled her up, she dropped sown again and was there for a few minutes.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, a really loud knock that someone makes who wants to let you know that they are there. I heard a voice, it was her mum. My GF threw her top on, and I jumped around with my trousers round my ankles picking up her bra, hiding it under the sofa and trying to get dressed.
I waited a few minutes before I went out to see her parents. Her Dad wanted help with the suit cases in the car, so I said I would help. They parked the car in the car park over the road, as my car had blocked up the last space on their driveway.
Now the car park faces the living room window, and looking in, I found to my horror that I could clearly see the outline of my GF talking to her mother. It turns out that the curtains acted like a projector screen when they were backlit by the fire and simply silhouetted the outline of my GF giving me a blow job, for her parents to see the whole time that they were parking the car and walking to the door. That was the only reason that they knocked, as they had house keys. They never said a word about it and even dropped a few comical hints about coming home early.
A couple times a year some friends and I go to a convention and get a hotel room for the weekend. Since all 4 of them are guys, I get my own room and they share an adjoining one. Lucky for me, one of them is my boyfriend. So one night we're in my room having some oral fun, and I hear a noise. We keep the doors to the adjoining room unlocked because the 5 of us usually hang out in one and then go off to bed and since they sleep the day away, I usually have to go in to wake them up. So I hear a noise that might be one of them moving around his room. I lift up my head to look, right when my boyfriend finishes.
In my eye. I've heard that it burns, and this is true. It fucking burned. To make matters worse I wear contacts, so it hurt even more. I rub my eye and run into the bathroom to see that it's bright red. This is not good. I wear day/night contacts so I didn't have my glasses, or a way to take out my contact and clean it. I now bring emergency contacts supplies on all trips. The pain is too great, so I'm forced to take out the contact. It feels a little better but I know I can't put it back in dirty. I have really sensitive eyes, so using the tap water wasn't an option, I needed contact solution. Meanwhile my boyfriend is sitting on the bed slightly bewildered and concerned.
I suddenly realize, that one of the guys in the next room has contacts. I sneak in and see his solution sitting on the bathroom counter. I grab it and quickly clean off my contact and put it back in, fresh and clean. He doesn't even know I used it, much less what I used it for.
An ex of mine wanted to try candles with dripping wax. I really didn't have any except for those fucking little scented Glade ones. He didn't drip it on me. He POURED it on me. I was immediately scalded and jumped up and proceeded to dance around the room. Once I got over the initial pain, I went back to sit on the bed and blew on it fiercely until he went to get some ice. That lavender-scented burn was there for quite some time.
When I was 18 I was dating this shy 25 year-old woman. We had been having sex for about 6 months and she was quite inexperienced at lots of things. I was finally getting her to open up a bit and try new things. One night while her parents were out (yes she lived at home...another e/n thread) I thought we should have sex on the kitchen floor. We get naked and fool around in the bed and I then lead her to the kitchen. I'm on top and she is going crazy. LOVING it. Loving it so much she asks for something she never did before.
She wanted me to cum on her tits. I arrive at my moment and proceed to cum all over her face, tits, and stomach. Just as I'm in mid spurt, I hear a key enter the front door and a handle turn. Thank God we locked the deadbolt to which her parents did not have a key for. They then start ringing the door bell.
The front door was across from the kitchen so I knew if they peeked in they would see. I bolted up, ran from the hallway to the bed room (about 40 feet) and it only took me 3 leaps to make it. I then plunged under the covers and acted as if I was asleep. My poor cum covered girlfriend then had to find something to put on AND answer the door in 20 seconds as to not look guilty. We just pretended that we locked the deadbolt on accident but I think they knew.
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Copyright ©2014 Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka & Something Awful LLC.


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Ingenius idea, fivelbbass! We'd love to make this bed for our son's room. Do you have more detailed plans or photos you could send us? Looking for details on how you secured the cable to the bed. I saw the post with the photo of someone else's "rig", but it didn't look as tidy or discreet as yours. Email: smarsher @ gmail.com. Thanks!
- Forum >
- Tools & Workshop >
- new loft bed / hanging bed
This project is GREAT! You must be very creative. I was wondering if I could hang my teen's bed from all four corners and not use the 2x4 braces. What do you think?
I think you will need to beef up the strength of the system that hangs over the rafters in your attic or ceiling. The weight of the bed needs to be spread evenly across the rafters/joists in the attic. You might consider using a larger diameter and longer length steel pipe or even a fence post to loop the steel cables over.
We followed your general plans and made two floating platform beds for our two six year olds. We couldn't be happier. They have so much more space and now we don't have to worry about them fighting about who gets the top bunk!
We decided to box out the beds for two purposes...one for added security/safety. We thought the kids would be scared if it was more open. Secondly, it hid the wire clamps!
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We're so excited to see Cheryl back on our screens in the new series of The X Factor! Will she mentor the winning act again? Have her and Simon really made amends? Will she become best best mates or frenemies with Mel B? But, most of all, we want to know.... what will she wear?! Here's a hint as we take a look at what she's been seen in in the run up to this weekend... and we think monochrome might be making a big comeback!
We've enjoyed having the lovely Kate Garraway present the show over the summer but now it's time for the baton to be passed back again and from Monday Lorraine Kelly is back and is bringing some fabulous A-list showbiz guests with her!
Mark is back and today he answers viewers' style dilemmas, including where to buy a bright winter coat, the best winter boots that are not only fashionable but most importantly waterproof and where to find a fashionable hat to protect our hair as the weather takes a turn for the worse.
Edinburgh's comedy Fringe Festival has just come to an end ... but how does Ross fare in LA during his most daunting challenge ever - performing a stand-up set at one of Hollywood's most notorious comedy clubs!?
James Tanner cooks up a great dish to indulge in on cooler rainy nights, it's a bit of a treat as the crackling is the best bit - but hey it is the weekend!
Apricots and french beans are in season and you can use some apricots as a nice dessert cut up with a bit of cream, James says.
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