The City of Chicago announced it is one of twelve cities across four states that have been selected to send a delegation to the 2022 Vacant Property Leadership Institute (VPLI), a training program focused on equipping leaders with the skills to address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties for the benefit of their communities. Made possible through the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation, VPLI is a joint initiative of the Center for Community Progress (Community Progress) and National League of Cities (NLC).  Delegations from each of the following cities will participate: College Park, GA; Perry, GA; South Fulton, GA; Chicago, IL; Decatur, IL; Kankakee, IL; Peoria, IL; Rockford, IL; Louisville, KY; Winchester, KY; Milwaukee, WI; Racine, WI. Cities were selected through a competitive, two-round application process.  VPLI sessions will address how to operationalize equitable development practices to remedy vacancy, abandonment, and deterioration (VAD) and return buildings and land to productive use. Some of the strategies to be explored include data and market analysis, delinquent tax enforcement reform, strategic code enforcement, land banking, and more.