218: The Path to Health Runs Through Place
In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Michael Randall talks with Danielle Lewinski, Chief Program Officer at the Center for Community Progress, about how vacant properties, neighborhood conditions, and public policy directly shape health outcomes.
Danielle breaks down why the U.S. has millions of vacant and substandard homes and how these conditions fuel chronic disease, mobility challenges, safety concerns, and long‑term disinvestment. She explains how public policy, code enforcement, tax foreclosure systems, and land banks can either reinforce inequity or create pathways to healthier, thriving communities.
You’ll learn about:
- How vacant properties harm health
- Why policy change is essential for neighborhood recovery
- How vacancy affects mobility and safety
- Green reuse strategies that improve community wellbeing
- The most damaging myths about vacancy
- Upstream vs. reactive systems in property revitalization
Perfect for viewers interested in health equity, urban policy, community development, mobility justice, and place‑based public health.
Danielle Lewinski
Nationally, just looking at housing alone, there are 5 million vacant houses — and that’s probably an underestimate. On top of that, there are more than 6 million occupied houses that are substandard or deteriorating. When you add commercial vacant properties, industrial vacant properties, and vacant lots, there is a profound amount of vacant and deteriorated property actively harming people’s health, people’s wealth, and their overall quality of life.
It is those properties — that issue — that my organization was set up to try and change. We’re a national nonprofit; all we do is focus on vacant, deteriorated properties, and our point of intervention is public policy. Public policy led to many of the conditions we’re experiencing right now, and public policy is absolutely imperative to help get us out of it.
I’m not talking about one or two vacant properties — I’m talking about entrenched vacancy. For that reason, we need a systems-level approach to address it, and that’s exactly where public policy comes in.
Michael Randell
Welcome to the podcast. You’re listening to the Health Disparities Podcast from Movement Is Life. I am your host, Michael Randell, coming to you live from Detroit, Michigan.
Today’s conversation explores a part of health equity that often goes unnamed but shapes everything about how we live: vacant properties, neighborhood conditions, and the systems that determine whether communities thrive or decline.
Our guest is Danielle Lewinski, Chief Program Officer at the Center for Community Progress. She is a national expert in urban revitalization, land banks, property tax systems, code enforcement, and equitable reuse strategies. Her work helps local governments across the country transform vacant and deteriorated properties into assets that support safety, mobility, and long-term well‑being.
Danielle, welcome to the Health Disparities Podcast. How are you today?
Danielle Lewinski
I’m doing great — excited to be here.
Michael Randell
Awesome. You’ve said you grew up seeing that some communities were set up to thrive while others were expected to tolerate disinvestment. When did you first begin to understand that neighborhood conditions weren’t accidental?
Danielle Lewinski
Honestly, from a young age. By the time I was around six, Detroit had lost nearly a million people, and the impact on neighborhoods was profound. You couldn’t come into the city and see thriving neighborhoods everywhere. There were pockets that were very vacant and pockets that were still thriving.
I lived about 15 minutes from the border, and where I grew up, if there was a vacant lot, you got a new house. There wasn’t long‑term vacancy or long‑term deterioration. Seeing such stark differences so close together really stayed with me.
Trying to understand that inequity — that injustice — and why the built environment became that way has been a driving force for me. I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t care about vacant properties or want to understand them.
The link to health might be immediate for some people, but not for everyone. It might seem like an aesthetic issue, but many studies show that vacant and deteriorated properties lead to chronic health conditions, worse mental health, and worse overall physical well‑being.
Because of past racialized policy decisions, the health impacts of vacant and deteriorated properties are not felt evenly — they’re felt more profoundly in low‑income and Black and Brown neighborhoods. That has been the crux of my career: solving that and improving the policies that created those conditions and can help get us out of them.
Michael Randell
Based on your background, your work has focused on land use, vacancy, land banks — things in the built environment. At what point in your career or life did you start seeing the health implications of land use, development, and land banks? What made that connection more salient for you?
Danielle Lewinski
I was in grad school, and as part of a work‑study, I volunteered with a local community development corporation. I helped lead a cleanup of a vacant property. A team of volunteers came, we cleared brush, boarded up the property — and while inside, I saw remnants of the lives and love that had been there: old family photos and personal items.
I had such a visceral reaction. It became so clear that people and property are not separate, even though our sectors treat them separately. What happens with a property impacts the person. That moment stayed with me.
There has never been a separation in my mind between vacant/deteriorated properties and the people connected to them — whether the legacy of who lived there or the ongoing harm to surrounding residents.
Also, in the communities Community Progress serves — primarily disinvested areas — resources are limited. You have to get creative about partnerships. That has led to more interesting collaborations, including with health care systems and hospitals. They’ve been good partners, and we need to leverage them more.
Michael Randell
For listeners who may not be familiar with Community Progress, what is the mission of your organization?
Danielle Lewinski
Nationally, there are 5 million vacant houses — likely an underestimate — and more than 6 million occupied houses that are substandard or deteriorating. Add commercial, industrial, and vacant lots, and the scale of harm is enormous.
These properties harm people’s health, wealth, and quality of life. That’s the issue Community Progress was created to address.
We’re a national nonprofit focused exclusively on vacant and deteriorated properties. Our intervention point is public policy. Public policy created many of these conditions, and public policy is essential to solving them.
We help local, county, state, and federal governments change policies so they can address these problems more effectively, efficiently, and equitably.
Michael Randell
Talking about small “p” and big “P” policy.
Danielle Lewinski
Exactly.
Michael Randell
Amazing work. Community Progress worked in over 125 communities last year. What are the main issues local governments bring to you, and how do you approach solutions?
Danielle Lewinski
We start with deteriorated properties because we want to prevent them from becoming vacant. We look at whether code enforcement systems can hold owners accountable — and this is important — while also providing equitable off‑ramps.
Many owners want to fix their property but lack the physical or financial ability. You don’t want a policy that strips someone of their title or wealth simply because they lack resources or live in a weak market where lending isn’t available.
Once a property is abandoned, we don’t want it sitting for years. Property tax foreclosure is the tool we usually look at, but in many states it’s a 6–10 year process — far too long. We look for ways to make it swifter while still providing equitable hardship supports.
Once a property reaches a public entity — often a land bank — we want it moved toward a community purpose or solution.
And finally, communities need a vision. Without a vision, you get haphazard strategies that don’t make an impact.
Michael Randell
I live in a community impacted by your work — Grandmont Rosedale in Northwest Detroit. This morning I had a flat tire and had to walk to work. I could do that because my community isn’t dealing with high vacancy that limits mobility.
What is the impediment that vacant, underutilized, disinvested properties create for an individual’s ability to move around their community?
Danielle Lewinski
Vacant properties often create fear and avoidance. Even one vacant property with illegal dumping — trash, construction debris — can harbor rodents and other hazards. Poor lighting often accompanies vacancy.
People don’t feel safe walking down their street, to church, to school. That fear reduces mobility, which contributes to chronic disease.
Inside the home, deterioration also affects mobility — moving safely around your own house becomes difficult.
Michael Randell
You touched on policy earlier. What are some direct policies — big P or small p — that can improve mobility for elderly residents, disabled individuals, and children?
Danielle Lewinski
There’s a range. The quickest, lightest‑touch approach is asking your city to do targeted cleanups — removing dumping, boarding up properties, improving lighting.
Communities often focus these efforts where there are many children, elderly residents, or key assets like schools and places of worship.
Because resources are limited, you want to use them where they benefit the most people.
Community engagement is also huge. Studies show lower firearm violence when residents steward vacant land.
Longer‑term strategies include greenways and creative reuse. Detroit’s Joe Louis Greenway is a great example — transforming an abandoned rail corridor into a mobility asset.
In Erie, the land bank created pocket parks and green routes through neighborhoods using vacant lots. These are underutilized assets that can dramatically improve mobility.
Michael Randell
Communities like Flint or Detroit have large swaths of vacancy. Some want green reuse, but others want to preserve the option for future housing. How do you respond to concerns about zoning and long‑term land use?
Danielle Lewinski
We hear that often — “I’m okay with green reuse temporarily, but eventually it should be a house again.”
That thinking can be short‑sighted. Many communities were originally designed without enough green space for long‑term health and sustainability. Vacant lots are an opportunity to correct that.
Success shouldn’t be defined as “if there was a house there, there must be a house there again.”
There’s a place for transitional use, but I encourage communities to identify where permanent green space should exist and then create denser housing elsewhere. That way you add affordable housing and ensure residents can walk to childcare, healthcare, food, and other resources.
Green infrastructure is not optional — it’s essential.
Michael Randell
Let’s talk about misunderstandings. Residents often say, “This property is blighted because the owner failed,” or “This commercial parcel will never come back.” What misconceptions are most harmful?
Danielle Lewinski
The most harmful misconception is that vacancy or deterioration is the individual owner’s fault or the city’s fault.
Yes, there are bad actors. But many owners can’t fix their property because of macroeconomic issues — depressed market values, lack of lending, physical limitations, or financial hardship.
People say, “Why reward someone who didn’t maintain their property?” But often they couldn’t.
This month is National Healthy Housing Month — a good time to highlight that these issues are bigger than individual responsibility.
Michael Randell
Absolutely. We see that in Grandmont Rosedale. People bought homes during bankruptcy — older homes with deferred maintenance. That’s not moral hazard.
Let’s talk about being proactive instead of reactive. What’s the benefit of upstream work?
Danielle Lewinski
One word: cost.
If we intervene early — say a house needs $50,000 in repairs — we can preserve it.
If we wait, it deteriorates beyond repair. Demolition might cost $15,000–$20,000, and rebuilding a house could cost $300,000.
Preventative work is cheaper, faster, and more efficient — just like in health care.
Michael Randell
What does success look like in your work?
Danielle Lewinski
Success isn’t simply “vacant → occupied.”
Success is whether the property solves a community challenge.
If a tax‑foreclosed property is in an area with poor air quality, maybe the best use is tree canopy, not housing.
Success requires cross‑sector collaboration — health, property, built environment — because each sector has different priorities and knowledge.
Michael Randell
Let’s leave people with hope. What does it look like when all cylinders are firing?
Danielle Lewinski
It looks like multifaceted programs moving toward a shared, community‑informed outcome.
What gives me hope is that people across political lines care about health and wellness — and want government to do more.
But I’ll throw it back to you: what gives you hope in Grandmont Rosedale?
Michael Randell
Our vacant property task force is now looking for new work — shifting from single‑family vacancy to commercial corridors. That’s a sign of progress and good policy.
With what I’ve learned from you, I feel better equipped to help shape solutions for commercial properties.
Danielle Lewinski
I’m thrilled to hear that. We’ll be diving into these topics at our national conference in September in Pittsburgh. Registration opens later this month.
Getting practitioners together to share successes and scale solutions is invigorating. I encourage you — and Grandmont Rosedale — to attend.
Michael Randell
Definitely. Commercial properties are a different beast, and we need that conversation.
In closing, what parting words would you offer to leaders and residents beginning to address vacancy?
Danielle Lewinski
First, look at the issue. Many people have become accustomed to vacancy and no longer see it. Don’t accept it as normal.
Second, ask: Who owns this property? What’s happening with it? Start conversations with local government.
You are not alone. This is a national issue — rural, urban, suburban. Many communities have found creative solutions to improve mobility and health through reuse and repair. Learn from them.
And if we can help, reach out at info@communityprogress.org.
Michael Randell
Danielle, we appreciate your time and your work. As someone focused on placemaking and community development with a health lens, I’m grateful for this conversation.
For listeners who want to learn more, visit communityprogress.org and follow the Center for Community Progress on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram. Check out the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference happening September 22–25 in Pittsburgh.
This has been the Health Disparities Podcast, where movement is life. I’m Mike Randell. Until next time, be safe and be well. Thank you, Danielle.
Danielle Lewinski
Thank you.