About
At North Central, we believe that collaborative, locally-rooted solutions grounded in a regional framework are the best solutions for emerging challenges. Use this page to explore our Resource Hub for a range of ideas, resources, and best practices from the region, commonwealth, and nation.
Don’t know where to begin? Try out our interactive Housing Solutions Explorer for a guided tour through potential solutions. Or check out our highlighted resources below to see a curated selection of valuable items to help you begin your journey—especially those related to forming a housing working group and developing a local plan.
Highlighted Resources
Establish a Housing Working Group
Hoosier Housing Ready Toolkit
Developed for rural Indiana communities by the Center for Rural Engagement at IU-Bloomington, this toolkit provides useful steps, guides, and worksheets for communities looking to enact housing change. Check it out here!
Rural Housing Toolkit
Provided by Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning & Development Commission, this toolkit provides easy-to-follow guides, valuable tools, and recommendations for creating a small town housing plan. Check it out here!
Rehab and Renovate Older Homes
PA Department of Community & Economic Development
DCED’s Housing Rehabilitation Guidebook provides useful standards for those administering rehab programs, especially those funded by CDBG or HOME. Check it out here!
NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania & Community Homeworks
NeighborWorks and Community Homeworks are examples of organizations providing trainings and resources for homeowners—both for homebuying and home maintenance. Check out NeighborWorks here and Community Homeworks here!
Love Your Block
Love Your Block programs are a growing movement. Providing mini-grants to residents, these programs encourage community-led projects—from block parties to community improvement. Check out a blueprint here and an example here!
Remediate Blight, Vacancy, and Abandonment
Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania
The PA Blight Library from the Housing Alliance of PA is one of the most comprehensive resources for available blight remediation options. Check it out here!
Center for Community Progress
Billed as the “only national nonprofit dedicated to helping communities tackle property vacancy, abandonment, and deterioration,” the Center for Community Progress provides valuable resources ranging from land bank research and strategic code enforcement guides. Check them out here!
Pennsylvania Municipal League
The municipal league’s 2023 blight report provides great insight into the strategies adopted in communities across the commonwealth. Check it out here!
Enable New Construction
Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook
The Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook, a project of the American Planning Association and the National League of Cities, presents a wealth of knowledge, ideas, and suggestions for strategies to enable new construction. Check it out here!
Strong Towns
The Housing Ready initiative, a project of Strong Towns, provides recommendations for zoning and permitting reforms to enable new construction—including those of different shapes and sizes. Check it out here!
All About Accessory Dwelling Units
AARP’s All About Accessory Dwelling Units is a comprehensive resource for communities. Providing guides, model ordinances, best practices, and general information, this is one of the go-to-places for ADU information. Check it out here!
Regulate and Encourage High-Quality Seasonal Housing
Chester County Planning Commission
The Chester County Planning Commission’s Short-Term Rentals eTool provides practical information and contemporary examples on short-term rental regulations. Check it out here!
Lancaster County Planning Commission
Like Chester County, Lancaster County created a useful tool outlining background information, considerations, and example regulations for short-term rentals. Check it out here!
Pocono Mountains Association of REALTORS
The Pocono Realtors Association developed a website and information campaign for potential landlords on steps to take to develop short-term rentals—including regulations to be aware of and best practices for being a good neighbor. Check it out here!
Explore the Full Resource Hub
The following interactive database compiles some of the best and most useful tools, guides, and ideas from around the housing ecosystem. Check it out!
Use the filters tab in the upper left corner to find resources by housing goal, stakeholder, and resource type (check out the FAQs for more information about resource types). Use the search bar in the upper right corner to search for key words. And use the “Gallery/List” tab in the upper right hand corner to switch between the list and gallery views.
▶Resource Hub FAQs
What is the Resource Hub?
The Resource Hub is a one-stop card catalog for some of the best and most useful tools, guides, and ideas from around the housing ecosystem. It is designed to help local planners and practitioners in their work.
What Are the Different Types of Resources?
Resources in the hub are categorized as Guides, Policy Briefs, Knowledge Bases, Articles/Blogs, Supporting Information, or Other.
• Guides are practical “how tos” or step-by-step documents that help practitioners implement change.
• Policy Briefs are digestible (either comprehensive or simple overview) documents that explain a specific policy or set of policies.
• Knowledge Bases are sites or resources that cover a series of policies with various links to helpful materials.
• Articles/Blogs are written materials covering a unique aspect or idea in a policy area.
• Supporting Information are useful resources to support your work. Examples include model ordinances, helpful organizations in a specific area, and other resources.
• Other is a catch-all for quality resources which do not neatly fit into the other categories.
How Were Resources Selected?
Resources were selected based on their potential impact, quality, and whether their content was not provided by other resources. In this way, the Hub is not designed to be comprehensive, but instead to present a useful snapshot of some of the most useful resources and ideas. Know a good resource that isn’t listed? Please submit it using this form.
Does the Hub Work for Mobile Users?
Yes! The Hub does work for mobile users. Please note, however, that Airtable does not allow certain features to be available—such as filtering and searching. We dislike this too, and we’ve already sent a strongly worded email.
Know a good resource that isn’t listed — reach out!
Additional Databases
