The Restoring Prosperity Initiative is a joint effort of groups in six states and at the national level to develop and advance an agenda for revitalizing America's older industrial cities.

America's central cities are coming back. Employment is up, populations are growing, and many urban real estate markets are thriving. Unfortunately though, not all cities are fully participating in this renaissance. While their counterparts flourish, a group of once-vibrant older industrial cities is experiencing job loss, growing poverty, and shrinking populations.  However, while these cities face challenges, they also have a range of physical, economic, and cultural assets that, if fully leveraged, can serve as a platform for their renewal. The Restoring Prosperity Initiative provides a roadmap for doing just that. Read the Brookings "Restoring Prosperity" report.

Don’t Miss Reclaiming Vacant Properties

April 14th, 2009 | Category: Front

The National Vacant Properties Campaign’s second national conference, Reclaiming Vacant Properties: Building Leadership to Restore Communities, will help leaders with diverse backgrounds - residents, community development practitioners, elected officials, the financial community, safety professionals, academics, real estate professionals, and many others - to make our neighborhoods stronger and healthier. 

The conference, cosponsored by the Louisville Metro Government and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, will be held June 1-3 in Louisville, Kentucky. An all-star cast of invited speakers includes Carol Coletta of CEOs for Cities, Marc H. Morial of the Urban League, Bruce Rasher of CB Richard Ellis, Inc., Dan Kildee of the Genesee County Land Bank, and Louisville’s own Mayor Abramson.

If you register before April 30, you’ll save $100. More than 600 people attended the first conference in 2007. Don’t miss the opportunity to network and share knowledge with those who have been working to create opportunity from abandonment!

Four More Policy Packages for State Advocates Released

March 03rd, 2009 | Category: Brownfields, Campaign Updates, Front, Housing, Transportation and Infrastructure

Smart Growth America has released four more policy packages for state advocates, on tax increment financing for brownfields, fix-it-first for water and sewer infrastructure, using Low Income Housing Tax Credits to create and preserve transit-accessible affordable housing, and performance-based transportation measures. Each package includes an overview of the policy, key features of successful legislation, advice on political strategy and communications, sample legislative language, and a fill-in fact sheet for advocates to distribute to state officials. Download the packages today and use them in your state!

Download the entire Brownfields Policy Package.
Download the fill-in Brownfields Fact Sheet and customize to fit your state.

Download the entire Fix-it-First Policy Package.
Download the fill-in Fix-it-First Fact Sheet and customize to fit your state.

Download the entire LIHTC Policy Package.
Download the fill-in LIHTC Fact Sheet and customize to fit your state.

Download the entire Transportation Policy Package.

Restoring Prosperity Partners Submit Recommendations to Congress

December 29th, 2008 | Category: Campaign Updates, Front

A coalition of groups supporting the revitalization of older industrial cities submitted recommendations to Congress for inclusion in a stimulus package proposed by President-elect Obama. Groups signed on to a letter that provided suggestions for stimulus spending in three areas: housing, transportation and infrastructure, and economic and workforce development. Read the text of that letter here. 

Policy Packages for State Advocates!

September 03rd, 2008 | Category: Campaign Updates, Front

Announcing the release of two great new resources for Restoring Prosperity advocates! Smart Growth America has developed two comprehensive policy packages focused on state historic preservation tax credits and state land bank enabling legislation. The packages include an overview of the policies, key features of successful legislation, advice on political strategy and communications, sample legislative language, and a fill-in fact sheet for advocates to distribute to state officials. The first in a series of six, these policy packages are intended to focus on issues of particular interest to those working to revitalize older industrial cities. 

Download the entire Land Bank Policy Package.
Download the fill-in Land Bank Fact Sheet and customize to fit your state.

Download the entire Historic Preservation Policy Package.
Download the fill-in Historic Preservation Fact Sheet and customize to fit your state.

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