The possibility of land banking in Philadelphia

Guests: Kim Graziani, Rick Sauer and Ellen Mattleman Kaplan

Last week, a City Council committee gave preliminary approval to a law that would establish a land bank in Philadelphia . The law would create a new public agency to handle the roughly 40,000 vacant properties in the city by providing a streamlined process to sell them to responsible owners. Similar land banks have been established in counties and cities across the U.S. Joining us to explain what a land bank is and how it would be implemented in Philadelphia are KIM GRAZIANI of the Center for Community Progress and RICK SAUER of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. We’ll also hear from ELLEN MATTLEMAN KAPLAN of the Committee of Seventy about concerns that Philly politics and business-as-usual could get in the way.