Meet the inaugural class of LOCUS’ Massachusetts Opportunity Zones Academy


How can cities and towns maximize the positive impact of their Opportunity Zones? The answer is different for every community, and that’s why LOCUS and Smart Growth America are offering tailored technical assistance to six Massachusetts communities in the first-of-its-kind Massachusetts Opportunity Zones Academy.

LOCUS

How one city is priming itself for Opportunity Zone investment


How does a city make sure it’s ready for investment? A question weighing on many municipal minds is how to organize planning, economic development strategies, and zoning regulations to make it clear to residents, developers, and investors that this is the right place to be. Further, how does a community encourage investment without sacrificing the characteristics that make it an attractive community to its residents?

LOCUS

2019 Federal Financing Toolkit

The toolkit is free for LOCUS members. Log in to the Member Resources section of our website to access your copy. The toolkit is also available for non-members at a cost of $60 — sign up to purchase your copy. As demand for smart growth development rises across the country, real estate developers and investors as well as local … Continued

LOCUS

Nominations open for the 2019 LOCUS National Leadership Awards


Do you know a real estate developer, investor, or company creating great walkable places and demonstrating exemplary public leadership to advance smart growth development? If so, nominate them for the 2019 LOCUS National Leadership Awards.

LOCUS

Local leader takes action on Opportunity Zones


Much of the buzz around Opportunity Zones has centered on big cities, but Councilman Bruce Lockett of Pine Bluff, Arkansas is determined to show potential investors that his community—and other small towns like it—should not be overlooked. Last year, he championed a local ordinance to create a task force of community stakeholders charged with raising Pine Bluff’s profile and attracting investment to the town’s three Opportunity Zones.

LOCUS

Sprawl or smart growth: the future of Opportunity Zones

The newly created Opportunity Zones program will likely go down as the largest and most significant federal community development initiative in U.S. history, with trillions of dollars in new private investment about to start flowing into pre-designated low-income communities around the country.

Advocacy Economic development LOCUS