United States and Canada

Equitably redeveloping urban areas and promoting climate resilience through proven land-based financing practices and policy changes

Fiscal Systems

Local governments in the United States and Canada need efficient and equitable fiscal systems to provide quality public services and infrastructure for their residents. Our work focuses on land-based financing tools, including the property tax, that help promote fiscal health.

Significant Features of the Property Tax

This database provides detailed information about the property tax system in all 50 states, with descriptions of states’ property tax relief programs, tax limits, taxation of agricultural property, classification, tax rates, and much more.

See the Database

 

Fiscally Standardized Cities

This database compares the finances of over 200 large US cities across more than 120 categories of revenues, expenditures, debts, and assets.

See the Database

Publications

Cover of Land Value Return Policy Brief
Land Value Return
Lourdes Germán and Allison Ehrich Bernstein

Policy Brief

Value Capture

Improving Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for Economic Development
David Merriman

Policy Focus Report

Public Finance

Climate, Land, and Water

Climate change and threats to land and water resources pose existential risks to humanity and biodiversity. Our work focuses on building the of civic land conservation, integrating land and water planning, and using land policy and planning to help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy

The Babbitt Center seeks to advance the integration of land and water management to meet the current and future water needs in the Colorado River Basin and beyond.

Learn More about the Babbitt Center

The International Land Conservation Network

The International Land Conservation Network (ILCN) is a global network that connects organizations and people who are accelerating voluntary private and civic sector action that protects and stewards land and water resources.

Learn More about ILCN

Publications

Design with Nature Now
Edited by Frederick Steiner, Richard Weller, Karen M’Closkey, and Billy Fleming

Book

City and Regional Planning

Buy-In for Buyouts
Robert Freudenberg, Ellis Calvin, Laura Tolkoff, and Dare Brawley

Policy Focus Report

Climate Change

Scenario Planning for Cities and Regions
Robert Goodspeed

Book

City and Regional Planning

Harnessing Technology to Accelerate Land Protection
Will Rogers

Working Paper

Technology and Tools

Land Markets and Opportunities

Unequal access to opportunity both within cities and across regions—in many cases driven by housing affordability crises—is a major challenge across the United States and Canada. Our work aims to identify and promote policies that advance equitable revitalization in legacy cities and housing affordability in hot markets.

The Legacy Cities Initiative

The Legacy Cities Initiative seeks to promote sustainable and equitable revitalization of legacy cities by convening networks, facilitating the exchange of ideas and practices, and researching and advancing new policy approaches.

Learn More about the Legacy Cities Initiative

Consortium for Scenario Planning

The Consortium for Scenario Planning offers a community of practice for practitioners, including access to technical assistance, educational resources, and a network of fellow innovators.

Learn More about the Consortium for Scenario Planning

Overcoming Barriers to Housing Affordability Research

The Lincoln Institute commissioned a set of research papers and case studies to better understand the barriers to implementing housing strategies at the necessary scale in the United States, and specific strategies to overcome those barriers.

Read the Papers

Publications

Through the Roof
Ingrid Gould Ellen, Jeffrey Lubell, and Mark A. Willis

Policy Focus Report

Cover of the report titled "The Empty House Next Door" by Alan Mallach. Cover shows two houses side-by-side
The Empty House Next Door
Alan Mallach

Policy Focus Report

From State Capitols to City Halls
Alan Mallach

Publication

Local Government

Land and the City
Edited by George W. McCarthy, Gregory K. Ingram, and Samuel A. Moody

Book

Our Experts

Enrique Silva

Chief Program Officer

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Headshot of John Farner

John Farner

Executive Director, Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Phoenix, Arizona

Joan Youngman

Senior Fellow & Chair of Valuation and Taxation

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Cambridge, Massachusetts