On July 29, 2011 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Land Bank Act. This law enables local governments to create non-profit entities for the purpose of assembling and holding onto vacant, tax-delinquent or foreclosed properties.

Empire State Future, a regional Smart Growth advocacy coalition, praised the bill, stating: "[The law gives local governments] the power to turn their most distressed spaces into valuable assets”.

The Land Bank Act will allow local governments to acquire the blighted properties, and hold them for future use. In short, governments are banking on the future of urban neighborhoods. Properties can be grouped together for private development, sold to owners of adjoining properties, or held for municipal projects. For upstate cities which face daunting vacancy rates, the Act provides a measure of control previously unattainable.

On Saturday, May 21st, this year's class of Leadership Pittsburgh, Inc.'s Leadership Development Initiative brought the third annual PopUp! Pittsburgh event to fruition - Lights! Camera! Fineview!

The census data released today was a shock to Detroiters who have been working on strategies to grow our city.  We all knew that population decline was continuing, but the number 713,777 was a surprise.  That said, I'm dismayed by the first reaction of most of our leaders: a demand for a recount.  I like accurate data as much as the next city geek, and these numbers do matter, but they matter more as an indicator than a fact in and of themselves.  What I care about, as a Detroiter, is the quality of life and availability of opportunity for people who live in Detroit.  To me, a larger populatio

The City of Detroit has announced plans to allow citizens to speak at city council meetings via Skype.
According to the Detroit Free Press, "in a city of 750,000 people, fewer than a dozen residents typically speak out during the comment period." This is such a tiny fraction, and the new Skype solution could hopefully increase the number of citizens speaking at City Council meetings.

While many of our cities are still bemoaning the not-surprising but still disheartening emerging census data showing that our decades-long population loss has continued, a report released a couple of weeks ago that shows that, while yes, the Detroit population overall showed a loss, certain neighborhoods have maintained population--or even grown.

A new Brookings study shows that in a whopping 47 out of 50 states, metropolitan regions contribute the majority of economic activity.

Happy Valentines Day! Here's a great article from today's NY Times Freakonomics blog about the importance of American cities in revitalization. Ed Glaeser, the author of Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier, urges us to "get over Jefferson", and "continue to innovate and grow our species' greatest invention here at home. We may rediscover a little bit of our swagger while we're at it." His celebration of cities and pragmatic view of their development is enlightening and entertaining, and Stephen Dubner does a great job of introducing Glaeser's views. Check it out!

Plenty of things connect Cleveland and Pittsburgh besides a turnpike and a football rivalry; the cities share a common economic history, labor market, and business partnerships, says regional economist, Christopher Briem. In a recent column, he called for greater collaboration between the cities and promoted "Cleveburgh," a Cleveland-Pittsburgh metro-region, comprising Akron, Canton, Steubenville, Weirton and Youngstown. Pointing to several examples of existing regional partnerships like The Regional Learning Network, Tech Belt Initiative, The Pittsburgh Regional Indicators Project, and the Power of 32 Regional Visioning Project...

Howard Wial of the Brookings Institution

Reliably thorough Lou Glazer of Michigan Future, Inc. reflected yesterday on why the census data is doesn't support the premise that Michigan (and by extension, other Great Lakes states) should necessarily imitate the labor/tax/economic development policies of southern states.