The community land trust is an innovative form of tenure that combines common ownership of land with individual ownership of any buildings that are located upon that land. It first appeared in the United States forty years ago. An outgrowth of the southern Civil Rights Movement, the community land trust (CLT) was conceived originally as a mechanism for African-American farmers to gain access to agricultural land. It soon found many other uses, including affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization.
It soon spread to urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the country. There are now over 200 CLTs in 44 states and the District of Columbia. They are appearing in other countries as well, with CLTs being developed in Canada, England, Scotland, and Australia.
The Community Land Trust Reader brings together for the first time the seminal texts that inspired and defined the CLT. Selections trace the intellectual origins of an eclectic model of tenure that was shaped by the social theories of Henry George, Ebenezer Howard, Ralph Borsodi, and Arthur Morgan and by social experiments like the Garden Cities of England and the Gramdan villages of India.
The Community Land Trust Reader does not look only to the past, however. Many of its 46 essays and excerpts examine contemporary applications of the CLT in promoting homeownership, spurring community development, protecting public investment, and capturing land gains for the common good. The Reader also looks ahead to challenges and opportunities likely to affect the future development of CLTs, here and abroad.
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Table of Contents
| PART ONE Precursors | ||
| Origins and Evolution of the Community Land Trust in the United States (2010) | ||
| John Emmeus Davis | ||
| Toward a Property Ethic of Stewardship: A Religious Perspective (2000) | ||
| Peter W. Salsich, Jr. | ||
| FROM Social Problems (1886) | ||
| Henry George | ||
| FROM Garden Cities of To- Morrow (1902) | ||
| Ebenezer Howard | ||
| FROM Utopian England: Community Experiments 1900–1945 (2000) | ||
| Dennis Hardy | ||
| A Delaware Delight: The Oasis Called Arden (1992) | ||
| Henry Wiencek | ||
| FROM Gandhi Today: A Report on Mahatma Gandhi's Successors (1987) | ||
| Mark Shepard | ||
| FROM The Community Land Trust: A Guide to a New Model for Land Tenure in America (1972) | ||
| International Independence Institute | ||
| PART TWO Prophets & Pioneers | ||
| FROM The Small Community: Foundation of Democratic Life (1942) | ||
| Arthur E. Morgan | ||
| The Possessional Problem (1978) | ||
| Ralph Borsodi | ||
| Plowboy Interview: Dr. Ralph Borsodi (1974) | ||
| Mother Earth News | ||
| Ralph Borsodi, 1886–1977: Prophet of Decentralism (1978) | ||
| Bob Swann | ||
| Ralph Borsodi’s Principles for Homesteaders (1978) | ||
| Mildred Loomis | ||
| FROM Peace, Civil Rights, and the Search for Community: An Autobiography (2001) | ||
| Robert Swann | ||
| FROM The Community Land Trust: A Guide to a New Model for Land Tenure in America (1972) | ||
| International Independence Institute | ||
| FROM The Community Land Trust Handbook: An Interview with Charles Sherrod (1982) | ||
| Institute for Community Economics | ||
| Stories from an Appalachian Community (2000) | ||
| Marie Cirillo | ||
| PART THREE Definitions & Purposes | ||
| FROM The Community Land Trust: A Guide to a New Model for Land Tenure in America (1972) | ||
| International Independence Institute | ||
| FROM The Community Land Trust Handbook (1982) | ||
| Institute for Community Economics | ||
| Federal Definition of “Community Land Trust” (1992) | ||
| United States Federal Register | ||
| FROM Development without Displacement: Organizational and Operational Choices in Starting a Community Land Trust (2006) | ||
| John Emmeus Davis | ||
| Bob Swann: An Interview (1992) | ||
| Kirby White | ||
| Speech to the Opening Plenary Session of the National CLT Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico (2000) | ||
| Chuck Matthei | ||
| PART FOUR Affordable Housing | ||
| CLTs: A Growing Trend in Affordable Home Own ership (2008) | ||
| Julie Farrell Curtin and Lance Bocarsly | ||
| Diminishing Returns: A Critical Look at Subsidy Recapture (1994) | ||
| Helen S. Cohen | ||
| Deed Restrictions and Community Land Trust Ground Leases: Two Methods of Establishing Affordable Homeownership Restrictions (2006) | ||
| David Abromowitz and Kirby White | ||
| City Hall Steps In: Local Governments Embrace Community Land Trusts (2007) | ||
| Rick Jacobus and Michael Brown | ||
| Community Land Trust Keeps Prices Affordable—For Now and Forever (2008) | ||
| Daniel Fireside | ||
| No Foreclosures Here (2009) | ||
| Holly Sklar | ||
| PART FIVE Beyond Housing | ||
| Land Trusts as Part of a Threefold Economic Strategy for Regional Integration (1978) | ||
| Robert Swann | ||
| Reallocating Equity: A Land Trust Model of Land Reform (1984) | ||
| John Emmeus Davis | ||
| U.S. Land Reform Movements: The Theory Behind the Practice (1992) | ||
| Chuck Matthei | ||
| The Value of Land in Economics (1993) | ||
| Chuck Matthei | ||
| Community and Conservation Land Trusts as Unlikely Partners?The Case of Troy Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin (2003) | ||
| Marcia Caton Campbell and Danielle A. Salus | ||
| Troy Gardens: The Accidental Ecovillage (2010) | ||
| Greg Rosenberg | ||
| FROM Preserving Farms for Farmers (2009) | ||
| Kirby White | ||
| PART SIX Beyond the United States | ||
| Reviving Community Own ership in En gland: CLTs are Ready to Take Over the Land (2009) | ||
| Jennifer Aird | ||
| Fertile Ground for CLT Development in Australia (2009) | ||
| Louise Crabtree | ||
| Community-Based Land Reform: Lessons from Scotland and Reflections on Stewardship (2009) | ||
| John Bryden and Charles Geisler | ||
| PART SEVEN Beyond the Horizon | ||
| Low- Income Homeownership: American Dream or Delusion? (2006) | ||
| Anne B. Shlay | ||
| The Case for Plan B (2007) | ||
| Tim McKenzie | ||
| FROM The City–CLT Partnership: Municipal Support for Community Land Trusts (2008) | ||
| John Emmeus Davis and Rick Jacobus | ||
| Sharing the Wealth of the Commons (2004) | ||
| Peter Barnes | ||
| Givings: The Flip Side of Takings (2005) | ||
| David Morris | ||
| The Challenge of Perpetuity (2010) | ||
| James M. Libby, Jr. | ||
| Homes That Last: The Case for Counter- Cyclical Stewardship (2008) | ||
| John Emmeus Davis | ||
| Selected Bibliography | ||
| About the Authors | ||
| Index | ||
| Commentaries | ||
| About the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy | ||
