ORGANIZING COMMUNITIES TO CUT DOWN ON BLIGHTED PROPERTIES: A TOOLKIT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERS

Transcription

1 ORGANIZING COMMUNITIES TO CUT DOWN ON BLIGHTED PROPERTIES: A TOOLKIT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERS JUNE 2014

2 Goal of This Toolkit This toolkit will help New Orleans communities develop smart, effective strategies for reducing the number of blighted properties in their area in order to improve the quality of life for residents.

3 Contents of This Toolkit This toolkit contains the following sections: Introduction: Why Make This Toolkit? The Zion City Story Section 1: Defining the Issue: Blight and Community Mapping Section 2: Diving Into Data: Property Research Tools Section 3: Know Your Real Estate Market to Find Your Best Blight Solutions Section 4: Using Policy and Legal Tools to Clean Up or Acquire Blighted Properties Section 5: Planning for Action with Your Community Section 6: Example Projects Each section comes with additional worksheets or reading material that will help you apply these concepts to your neighborhood.

4 Who Created this Toolkit? Authors: Alexandra Miller, Principal, Miller Urban Consulting Cynthia Harris, President, New Zion City Preservation Association Santiago Burgos, Executive Director, Broadmoor Development Corporation Kathleen Onufer, Miller Urban Consulting With Support From: Foundation for Louisiana TOGETHER Initiative Grant Many interviewees were of great help in creating this toolkit. All errors or omissions are the authors own.

5 INTRODUCTION: WHY MAKE THIS TOOLKIT? THE ZION CITY STORY

6 Why Make this Toolkit? The Zion City Story OVERGROWN (for vacant lots) Zion City residents founded the New Zion City Preservation Association in To improve quality of life in their neighborhood. To respond to vacancy, blight, zoning, and infrastructure issues in their area. Key Point: Zion City organized their neighborhood residents to look at how to improve their community.

7 Zion City Step 1: Defining the Issue OVERGROWN (for vacant lots) The New Zion City Preservation Association worked with Beacon of Hope in 2012 to map their community. They found: Over 50% vacant properties 30% blighted properties Key Point: Zion City used community mapping to gather data on problem properties in their neighborhood.

8 Zion City Step 2: Diving into Data Orleans Parish Assessor: nolaassessor.com Zion City residents used data to identify owners and monitor legal progress on blighted properties, including: The Orleans Parish Assessor s Website to investigate ownership and tax issues BlightStatus to monitor code enforcement progress BlightStatus: blightstatus.nola.gov Key Point: Zion City used data to identify key issues like back taxes, speculative owners, and code enforcement progress.

9 Zion City Step 3: Understanding the Market HOUSE COSTS $150,000 TO BUILD How can I maintain blighted property cheaply to bring property values up, so I can build homes? HOUSE SELLS FOR $85,000 Residents wanted to know why blighted properties in Zion City were so hard to bring back into commerce. One reason was low property values that made it hard to build houses or businesses in the area. Zion City found that certain policies and strategies would work better for their real estate market type. Key Point: Zion City found that the local real estate market matters when developing a blight reduction strategy.

10 Zion City Step 4: Researching Policies & Legal Tools Code Enforcement & Sheriff s Sale Tax Title Sale Adjudication Three-Year Acquisitive Prescription Expropriation Ground Leasing Authors of this toolkit researched policies that could get owners to maintain their properties or help community members access properties cheaply. Many blighted properties in Zion City had high back taxes and clouded titles we looked for policies that could help resolve these issues. Details on each policy in Section 4. Key Point: Zion City looked at policies & tools that could help community members access or purchase blighted properties cheaply, if the owners wouldn t maintain them.

11 Zion City Step 5: Creating an Action Plan Zion City residents worked to create an action plan for their community based on their: Vision Property Research and Data Policy Knowledge Property Value Knowledge Partners Community Assets Key Point: Zion City created an action plan specific to their community based on their vision, data, and research to improve blighted properties and their quality of life.

12 Zion City Step 6: Executing a Project Example: Park created on vacant land in Philadelphia (Image credit: ocfrealty.com) NZCPA is working to acquire two lots from cooperative owners and create a park, in partnership with the Land Trust for Louisiana. Considerations in any project: Liability Insurance Maintenance Costs/Volunteers Upfront Costs Design & Features Partners!!! Key Point: Zion City established strong partnerships, raised funds, and found property owners they could work with in order to execute a project.

13 Zion City Step 7: Sharing Information Our partnership has created this toolkit to share what we learned about organizing your neighborhood to fight blight with information about policies, property values, planning, and project implementation. We hope this helps you address blighted properties in YOUR community.

14 Toolkit Activities and Information For more activities related to this section, see: Worksheet 1: Your Community and Zion City This will help your group start to think about how your community s issues with problem property are similar to, or different from, the issues that Zion City had to deal with.

15 SECTION 1: DEFINING THE ISSUE: BLIGHT AND COMMUNITY MAPPING

16 Defining Blighted Properties This toolkit deals with properties that are: This toolkit focuses on dealing with VACANT properties that are OVERGROWN (for vacant lots) DILAPIDATED (for vacant structures) Key Point: Blighted properties are vacant properties that bring down the quality of life in New Orleans neighborhoods.

17 Blighted Properties A Major NOLA Issue 10,000 Blighted properties remediated with City assistance between * MORE THAN 30,000 Blighted properties remaining in NOLA as of early 2014* Many of the remaining blighted properties will be more difficult to deal with because they tend to be in areas with low property values we ll see why this matters in Section 3. Key Point: New Orleans is making progress in addressing blighted properties but there s still a lot of work to be done. * According to City of New Orleans Blight Reduction Strategy (2014).

18 How Can Community Mapping Help? Watch the video about Detroit s experience with community blight mapping on the next slide. Defining the blight issue in your area with community mapping will help you assess the number and type of blighted properties, and monitor progress toward improvement.

19 Defining the Issue with Community Mapping Key Point: Defining the blight issue in your area with community mapping will help you assess the number and type of blighted properties, and monitor progress toward improvement.

20 Using the New Orleans Property Viewer The City of New Orleans Property Viewer is located at property.nola.gov Use the + sign and drag the map to zoom into your neighborhood. You can use the Property Viewer to create maps of individual blocks with addresses, parcel lines, and building footprints for your community survey. Key Point: You can use the Property Viewer to create a base map with addresses so neighbors can walk the area and identify property conditions even on vacant lots.

21 Creating a Property Survey Questionnaire LOT STRUCTURE OCCUPIED VACANT RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL GOOD FAIR POOR DUMPING Key Point: Consider what you need to know about blighted properties in your area and include those questions in your survey document for volunteers. (See Handout 1 for a sample.)

22 Organizing Volunteers The final step in completing a property survey is to organize volunteers to walk the area with maps and survey sheets. The volunteers will record information about each address on their survey sheet. Spreadsheets and maps can help organize all the data in one place. Key Point: Organize volunteers and partner organizations to help map property conditions in your community, especially in areas you want to target for blight reduction.

23 Toolkit Activities and Information For more activities related to this section, see: Handout 1: Sample Property Survey Document You can change this sample document to capture all of the information you d like to record about blighted properties in your area.

24 SECTION 2: DIVING INTO DATA: PROPERTY RESEARCH TOOLS

25 Research to Identify Barriers and Opportunities Your property survey will tell you where blighted properties are and how many properties are blighted. Your next step is to research these properties. Use the tools in this section to learn: Who owns these properties What steps the City is taking Which properties may be easiest to change or buy

26 Orleans Parish Assessor: Ownership & Tax Info Using the Orleans Parish Assessor s website at nolaassessor.com, you can learn: Who owns a particular piece of blighted property The owner s mailing address Whether there are unpaid back taxes Whether the property has had tax sales or been adjudicated Key Point: The next slides will show how to use the Assessor s website and discuss why the information there is important.

27 Using the Assessor s Website: Search by Map

28 Using the Assessor s Website: Search by Address

29 Assessor s Website: Ownership Information Each page for a property contains the owner s name and address. Also note the Tax Information button you can click this to get more information on taxes owed, and other issues like tax sales and adjudication.

30 Assessor s Website: Tax Information When you click the Tax Information button, you will see a page like this one. This can tell you if: Taxes are owed on the property. Other issues like tax sales or adjudication may be an issue when buying a property. We ll learn more about these issues in Section 4.

31 What to Do with Ownership and Tax Information Key Point Contact the current owner to: Warn them about potential code enforcement fines. Ask them to maintain their property or hire a local landscaper to do so. Ask them if they are interested in selling or donating their property. Use tax information to: Determine if the property is likely abandoned (for example, if no taxes have been paid for years) Determine whether acquiring the property or trying to promote it for sale is a good option, or if back taxes or legal issues might prevent this (see Section 4 for details).

32 BlightStatus: Track Code Enforcement Progress Another useful tool is the City s BlightStatus website at blightstatus.nola.gov. This site helps you see how the City s Code Enforcement process is working for properties in your area.

33 Using the BlightStatus Website to Search a Property ADDRESS HERE NOTE: If a property does not have an open case on BlightStatus, call 311 to report it as blighted.

34 What to Do with BlightStatus Information Key Point If a property has an open case on BlightStatus: Add properties to your Watchlist to monitor progress. Track hearing dates and get neighbors to attend. If progress is slow, attend BlightStat meetings at City Hall. Find out when properties receive guilty judgments and may go to sheriff s sale. If a property does not have an open case: Call 311 to report the property as blighted. This will trigger the system to add the property to BlightStatus.

35 Toolkit Activities and Information For more activities related to this section, see: Worksheet 2: Researching a Blighted Property You can change this sample document to capture all of the information you d like to record about blighted properties in your area.

36 SECTION 3: KNOW YOUR REAL ESTATE MARKET TO FIND YOUR BEST BLIGHT SOLUTIONS

37 How Does the Real Estate Market Work? SOLD $100,000 SOLD $80,000 VALUE $90,000 The real estate market is based on how much people are buying and selling property for in a particular area. Your property will have an assessed value that is calculated by the assessor to determine your property taxes. A more accurate measure is your property s appraised value a real estate appraiser will estimate the value of your property based on similar properties that have been sold recently. Key Point: The real estate market is based on property values which are determined by how much properties are being bought and sold for in a particular area.

38 What are the Types of Real Estate Markets? Mostly low property values Soft Market Property values increasing; some high, some low Transitional Market Mostly high property values Strong Market Key Point: Real estate market types are based on property values. Blighted properties look the same in any area but your local market type affects how you deal with them.

39 Why Does the Market Affect Blighted Properties? $200,000 $150,000 $100,000 $50,000 Cost to build a house Need $50,000+ subsidy Sales Price: Lower than Cost May need subsidy Sales Price: Lower or Higher than Cost High prices may bring speculators Sales Price: Higher than Cost Soft Market Transitional Market Strong Market Key Point: In soft markets, low prices mean less building and more blight. In strong markets, speculators may hold onto vacant properties without maintaining them.

40 Soft Markets: Breaking the Cycle of Blight Blighted properties keep property values low Low property values caused by blighted properties make building new homes & businesses difficult Often, properties have been vacant for a long time and have back taxes, clouded titles, or other issues Low property values make it hard to get rid of blighted properties Need: policies that can help break the cycle by getting properties maintained or returned to productive use for low cost Key Point: In soft markets, break the cycle of blight by finding policies that allow neighbors, farmers, gardeners, or the City to maintain or use properties at low cost.

41 Strong Markets: Stopping Speculation In strong markets, speculators may hold on to blighted properties in the hope of selling them for more money as property values increase Need: to fine owners who don t maintain property, and hold auctions to return properties to commerce Once returned to commerce, high property values mean new homes and businesses will come in Key Point: In strong markets, focus on policies that fine speculators who don t maintain property, and on auctions that can return properties to commerce.

42 Transitional Markets: Combo of Soft and Strong Transitional markets have soft-market areas and strongmarket areas Need: Code enforcement fines, and more chances for neighbors to use land productively Example: In St. Roch, property values are increasing; but much vacant land has high back taxes or clouded title, making it hard to access and driving prices up. Key Point: Transitional markets need a combination approach they have both soft-market areas and strong-market areas.

43 How Can I Find Out About My Local Market? Berkshire Country Club Reading Hospital Schuylkill Ave. W. Buttonwood St. Goggle Works Reading Area Community College There is a new tool called the New Orleans Market Value Analysis (MVA). Roughly, orange and red areas are soft markets, yellow and blue areas are transitional, and purple areas are strong markets. Make sure to check what the MVA says against your local experience. Key Point: You can use the MVA to start to understand your area s real estate market. Public MVA maps and documents are in this toolkit and on the website data.nola.gov.

44 Toolkit Activities and Information For more information and activities related to this section, see: The New Orleans Market Value Analysis Worksheet 3: Identifying Your Market Type These resources will help you identify your real estate market type or types, and will examine community assets that can be used to improve your local market.

45 SECTION 4: USING POLICY AND LEGAL TOOLS TO CLEAN UP OR ACQUIRE BLIGHTED PROPERTIES

46 What Issues Do We Need to Address With Policy? Physical Problems Improve Safety and Health Dilapidated, dangerous buildings Overgrown lots Illegal dumping Rodents or vermin infestations Property Ownership Transfer Neglected Property Clouded property titles Large amounts of back taxes Speculators or absentee owners who do not maintain property Key Point: Policies can focus on dealing with immediate physical problems, on transferring property out of neglectful owners hands, or on both.

47 Legal Definition of Blight The legal definition of blight in Louisiana includes only properties that meet the following conditions: Have been reported and put through official code enforcement process* Found guilty at a code enforcement hearing + + Poor condition not fixed within 30 days Key Point: When policies mention blighted properties specifically, they re referring to properties that have been found guilty through the code enforcement process. * More info on code enforcement available within this section.

48 Policy #1: Code Enforcement & Sheriff s Sale Goal: Fix physical conditions by fining owners who have blighted property so they will fix the property. Transfer properties whose owners won t or can t maintain them to new owners by auctioning them at sheriff s sale. How it Works: Owners sent letter to appear at public hearing Hearing occurs: finds guilty or not guilty Property inspected by Code Enforcement If guilty: code liens or fines put on tax bill City may demolish buildings or help mow lots if needed If fines not paid, property may be sold at sheriff s sale Minimum bid at 1 st sheriff sale: 2/3 appraised value If property does not sell at 1 st sale, second sale may be held with no minimum bid

49 Policy #1: Code Enforcement & Sheriff s Sale How Can this Policy Help With: Physical Problems Improve Safety and Health Incentivize owners to clean up property or receive a fine. If found guilty, City can demolish dangerous buildings. If found guilty, City can help mow overgrown lots through programs including Collaborative Nuisance Abatement Program and Lot Maintenance Program. Property Ownership Transfer Neglected Property If property goes to sheriff s sale auction and sells: Title is cleared for new owner. New owner must pay back taxes they are not removed or placed on previous owner. Need enforcement to ensure speculators cannot buy property and not clean it up.

50 Policy #1: Code Enforcement & Sheriff s Sale Where Does this Policy Work Best? When demolition of a dilapidated, dangerous property is the goal calling 311 for code enforcement is always a good idea. When maintenance of vacant lots is the goal code enforcement helps to: Get the owner to maintain the property so they can avoid fines. Get absentee owners to agree to pay a local landscaper for maintenance so they can avoid fines. Make the property eligible for City programs for maintenance. When auction to a new owner is the goal code enforcement works best in strong and transitional markets where buyers can pay 2/3 property value, pay any back taxes, and rebuild property.

51 Policy #1: Code Enforcement & Sheriff s Sale Related Resources for Maintenance of Guilty Properties: Collaborative Nuisance Abatement Program Lot Maintenance Program Partnership between City and NORA to allow NORA vendors to maintain vacant lots with guilty judgments. Call Code Enforcement department at (504) for details. Partnership between City and NORA to allow NORA vendors to maintain vacant lots with guilty judgments. Charges for maintenance are placed on property tax bill. Will begin in 2014 contact your City Councilmember s office for details.

52 Policy #2: Tax Sale Goal: Sell unpaid taxes to an investor; if the owner does not pay the investor with interest, the investor can foreclose on the property after five years How it Works: Property sent to tax title sale (aka tax sale ) Owner does not pay property taxes After auction, original owner has 3 year redemptive period to repay tax sale buyer with interest Bidders all pay total amount of taxes due a low bidder accepts a lower % ownership of the property If original owner does not repay, tax sale buyer should wait additional 2 years to correct any legal issues Tax sale buyer can foreclose & take property after 5 total years

53 Policy #2: Tax Sale How Can this Policy Help With: Physical Problems Improve Safety and Health Tax sale buyer can get a writ of possession from a court that allows them to maintain their property during the 5- year waiting period. Community organizations may purchase property at tax sale to maintain themselves; or may contact tax sale buyers to ask them to hire local landscapers. Property Ownership Transfer Neglected Property Title is not cleared for new owner. May have trouble getting title insurance and building on properties acquired thru tax sale. Full amount of back taxes paid at tax sale. This means properties with very high back taxes unlikely to sell at tax sale. Need more clarity for tax sale investors about what they are buying.

54 Policy #2: Tax Sale Where Does this Policy Work Best? For maintenance of vacant land: Community organizations in any neighborhood, or any kind of real estate market, can buy a property at tax sale and gain a writ of possession from a judge to gain access to major problem properties and maintain them. For transfer of property: Tax sale is not an ideal strategy to buy property due to the difficulties with getting title insurance even after the 5-year period is up. However, if the tax sale lot is used as green space and not developed, title insurance may not be necessary. Soft-market areas with low property values are more likely to have properties with very high back taxes that may not sell at auction.

55 Policy #3: Adjudicated Property Sale or Donation Goal: Sell or donate properties that have failed to sell at tax sale in the past and have been adjudicated to the City. How it Works: Property sent to tax title sale (aka tax sale ) Owner does not pay property taxes City must wait for 3-year redemptive period and 2- year additional legal deficit period Property does not sell to any tax sale bidders and is written in to the City, as if the City won the auction City can take ownership of property and auction it, donate it, or do a Lot Next Door type process Right now, City does not have a process for these properties

56 Policy #3: Adjudicated Property Sale or Donation How Can this Policy Help With: Physical Problems Improve Safety and Health Note that right now, the City would need to do further research into the City Charter to figure out a good process for selling or donating adjudicated property. Most physical benefits will come from transferring longterm vacant properties to neighbors, non-profits, or new private owners. Property Ownership Transfer Neglected Property Need to find a willing title insurance company to provide title insurance for buyers of adjudicated property Jefferson Parish has a process for this. Back taxes are removed from the property and placed on the previous property owner. Most flexible way to move vacant property with high back taxes to new owners from community.

57 Policy #3: Adjudicated Property Sale or Donation Where Does this Policy Work Best? Adjudicated properties are most likely to exist in soft market areas, because when a property s value is low, investors often won t purchase tax sale title so the properties become adjudicated. Creating a City auction process for adjudicated properties with no minimum bid is possible under state law helping those who can t afford to pay 2/3 property value compete in an auction process. More research is needed to understand if City Charter allows this. Under state law, it s also possible to do a Lot Next Door - type process if a resident has property that touches the adjudicated property and maintains the property for one year, state law allows the City to sell it to the adjacent owner for any price.

58 Policy #4: Three-Year Acquisitive Prescription Goal: Allow community members to use, maintain, and eventually own properties that have been officially declared blighted. How it Works: Property receives guilty judgment for blight Property goes thru Code Enforcement process Owners, and then neighbors, have 1 st right to possession under this law - can hold property themselves instead Individual declares intention to hold property and maintain it, sends notices to owners and neighbors Individual must keep property maintained for 3 years, pay all back taxes, & take all legal steps Individual gains ownership of property

59 Policy #4: Three-Year Acquisitive Prescription How Can this Policy Help With: Physical Problems Improve Safety and Health Allow community members or others to legally hold and maintain blighted properties. Most physical benefits will come from transferring longterm vacant properties to neighbors, non-profits, or new private owners. Property Ownership Transfer Neglected Property Need to find a willing title insurance company to provide title insurance for these properties may be difficult. All back taxes must be paid by person attempting to acquire the property taxes can be high on long-term blighted properties. May work well for properties owned by non-profits that no longer exist.

60 Policy #4: Three-Year Acquisitive Prescription Where Does this Policy Work Best? Properties eligible for three-year acquisitive prescription are most likely to exist in soft market areas, where owners may have been absent for years without selling or maintaining their property. However, if owners have been absent for years, properties are also likely to have high back taxes that will need to be paid by the occupying person in order to gain title to the property. One possible target is properties owned by absentee non-profits, or non-profits that no longer exist.

61 Policy #5: Expropriation Goal: Use public agencies powers to fulfill the public purpose of transferring property to eliminate blighted conditions. How it Works: Property receives guilty judgment for blight Property goes thru Code Enforcement process Public agency pays full appraised value of property to owners and takes property Public agency may re-sell formerly blighted property to a new private owner Currently, based on legal challenges at the state level, City is not pursuing expropriation

62 Policy #5: Expropriation How Can this Policy Help With: Physical Problems Improve Safety and Health Most physical benefits will come from transferring blighted properties to new private owners. Property Ownership Transfer Neglected Property Expropriation is expensive for the government because they have to pay full price for properties, so it s a less favored option. Works best for large-scale projects with major economic benefits or designed to achieve public purposes, like water management or affordable housing.

63 Policy #5: Expropriation Where Does this Policy Work Best? As of early 2014, neither the City nor NORA expropriates property. Expropriation is expensive for the government because they have to pay full market value for properties so they are most likely to expropriate blighted properties in strong or transitional market areas where there is interest from private developers or community developers. However, certain strategic properties that could be used for largescale housing development or water management in soft market areas could also be eligible.

64 Legal Tool #1: Ground Leases Goal: Gain access to vacant land in a neighborhood by ground leasing the land at very low cost from current owners. How it Works: Ground leases are essentially a way for community groups or local residents to rent land from its current owner. A lease will state how long the community group or resident may use the land, and what the approved uses are for example, a park, a farm, or a garden could be options. Usually the rental fee can be as low as $1 per year because the community group using the land is helping the owner avoid code enforcement fines.

65 Legal Tool #1: Ground Leases Do Ground Leases Clear Title? They don t need to the title is the owner s problem. The community is just renting the land. Do Ground Leases Remove Back Taxes? They don t need to the back taxes are the owner s problem. Where Does this Policy Work Best? Ground leases work anywhere where a community would like to activate a vacant or overgrown lot and can convince the owner to work with them on a lease agreement. Note that ground leases are a temporary strategy you might have to move your garden or other asset after your lease period is up. Negotiating a longer lease will help you feel more secure about your ability to use the land for bigger projects.

66 Which Policies &Tools Work Best for Your Market? Soft Markets (Low Property Values) Adjudication to remove high back taxes. Research on City charter is needed. Tax sale best for creating green spaces w/o clear title Code enforcement with maintenance programs Ground leases Strong Markets (High Property Values) Code enforcement fines to force owner clean-up or sale to new owner Sheriff s sale auctions for 2/3 property value plus all taxes and liens Ground leases Key Point: Policies that use auctions to bring properties back to commerce work well in strong markets. In soft markets, these can promote speculation helping community-based residents and organizations eliminate taxes and gain clear title is more important.

67 Toolkit Activities and Information For more information and activities related to this section, see: Document: Policy Research for Community Stewardship of Blighted Property This document gives more detail about each policy option that was discussed in this section of the presentation; if you are working to apply these policy and legal tools in your neighborhood, this document will help!

68 SECTION 5: PLANNING FOR ACTION WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

69 Step 1: Bring Your Neighbors Together For a strong visioning process, you need residents representing the diversity of the community to be part of a planning event or event(s). It s especially important to capture the views of youth and seniors. Schedule at least three hours to work on creating a vision and action plan for reducing blight and building assets.

70 Step 2: Study Your Property Survey Use your neighborhood map of blighted properties to see where there may be clusters of blight, and where you see strategic opportunities to focus efforts. Take into account whether the majority of your blight is structures, vacant lots, or both.

71 Step 3: Understand Your Market Type Cost to build a house In a soft market (low property values), you need a long-term strategy for building assets and using vacant land because when it costs more to build a house than that house sells for when it s done, development takes time. Soft Market Sales Price: Lower than Cost Transitional Market Sales Price: Lower or Higher than Cost Strong Market Sales Price: Higher than Cost In a strong market (high property values), development is easier the issue is getting speculators to let go of properties.

72 Step 4: Start Your Visioning with SWOT Strengths Opportunities Weaknesses Threats SWOT analysis helps identify elements and ideas you can use in your action plan. Use the Activity 1 sheet to complete this activity. Strengths = Advantages and assets from within your community Weaknesses = Disadvantages and barriers within your community Opportunities = Helpful resources, ideas, plans and partners from outside the community or neighborhood Threats = Issues or problems coming from outside the community or neighborhood

73 Step 5: Map Your Assets and Identify Partners WE CAN WE CAN T AND WE DON T KNOW WHO CAN WE KNOW WHO CAN WE MAY NEED ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WHO ELSE? WHAT ELSE? In this activity, you will sort a deck of cards related to blight reduction strategies that other New Orleans neighborhoods have used. Use the Activity 2 sheet here. We can you and/or your neighbors can accomplish this strategy. We know who can a partner organization could execute this strategy. We can t and don t know who can additional partners would need to be identified to help with this strategy. Additional resources would be needed. Use a resources needed card to write down what these would be.

74 Step 6: Develop Short-Term and Long-Term Strategies Figure out who owns blighted properties Create a community asset like a park Call 311 Warn blighted property owners about fines Help residents buy the property next door Advocate for research on adjudicated properties Map our assets & people who can help fight blight Ground lease a property from its owner Make a list: What are the 5 most effective things to do NOW? Make a list: What are the 5 things you would like to see happen that will take time to advocate for or to create? Make a list: Which 5 properties will be easiest to acquire, or to change by working with the owner? Make a list: Which 5 properties most need to be improved?

75 Toolkit Activities and Information For activity materials related to this section, see: Activity 1: SWOT Analysis Activity 2: Asset and Partner Mapping That s the end of the teaching portion of this toolkit! If you have done a project to reduce blight in your neighborhood and would like to share details to help other communities learn and improve, please post it on our nolablighttoolkit.com website. Thanks!