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Will your community shape its own future?
czb partners with local governments, nonprofit organizations, and neighborhood groups working to improve their communities in the areas of planning, economic vitality, neighborhood health, and housing market balance.
Our clients aspire to deal in the facts that define opportunities, understand the forces that drive politics, and make informed decisions even when it’s difficult.
No matter where you are starting, we can help.
SPECIALTY AREAS INCLUDE
Planning and Design
Neighborhood Revitalization
Housing Analysis and Strategy
Affordability, Gentrification, and Equity
Public and Small Group Facilitation
Resident Leadership Development
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Featured Work
Whether your community wants to be economically stronger, be more equitable, or increase quality of life, we partner with you to find the way forward.
Explore all of our work with cities, towns, and regions across the country.
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN & ZONING UPDATEHow can a comprehensive plan and updated zoning code steer a small city in a bold new direction?
PK4Keeps, the city's new comprehensive plan, provides the community with a coherent vision for the next 20 years and a highly customized implementation process that encourages focused and holistic work in each part of the city. Updates to the city's zoning code will ensure that Poughkeepsie's code is a reflection of the plan's vision.
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PK4Keeps - A Comprehensive Plan for Poughkeepsie
GREENVILLE, SC
LAND MANAGEMENT ORDINANCEWhat kind of development code is necessary to implement a city's brand new vision?
Greenville's new land management ordinance will be the first major effort to implement GVL2040, a pro-growth comprehensive plan (also by czb) that prioritizes land preservation, affordable housing, and multi-modal transportation. To help facilitate progress on these priorities, Greenville's new code will increase the predictability of development processes, enable greater development densities in selected nodes, and clarify the connection between Greenville's emerging urban form and the achievement of its long-range vision.
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BALTIMORE, MD
WHOLE BLOCKS, WHOLE COMMUNITY STRATEGYHow can Baltimore substantially shrink its inventory of vacant properties while nurturing healthier, more inclusive neighborhoods?
Progress on vacant and abandoned housing in Baltimore has been notable in recent years, but stubbornly high concentrations of vacant buildings in neighborhoods with weak demand and high poverty threaten to stall further progress. A new approach is needed that shifts the focus from resolving vacancy to making entire groups of blocks healthy and more resistent to future vacancy.
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Reclaiming Vacant Property Throughout Baltimore
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Where we're working right now
Eau Claire Regional Housing Study
Eau Claire County, City of Eau Claire and City of Altoona, WIVisit the project website eauclaireregionalhousing.org
"czb is an extraordinary group, whom I think of as representing the state of the art in urban planning and housing studies. They don’t just follow a playbook, but think deeply about each community with which they are engaged. Their work is precise, detailed and yet broad in its outlook, and thoroughly grounded in a commitment to equity and opportunity for low-income and vulnerable populations."
- Alan Mallach | Senior Fellow, Center for Community Progress
czb is an award-winning planning firm working in cities, towns, and regions across America.
Experience. Humility. Curiosity.
These are the cornerstones of the partnership we forge with our clients, where we learn as much from the community as it learns from us. Meet our team, see what services we can provide, and learn what it’s like to work with us.
newS and insights
Our work is often in the news and we’ve also got a few thoughts of our own.
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Syracuse must encourage homeowners and investors to fix decayed housing, study finds
May 23, 2023
Development code passes, Chief Diversity Officer hired and other city council updates
May 22, 2023
Commentary: Rehabbing city's vacant housing would more than pay for itself
March 30, 2023
Greenville leaders vote to accelerate funding for affordable housing
March 27, 2023
Whole Blocks, Whole City: Reclaiming Vacant Property Throughout Baltimore
February, 2023