The Scourge of Vacant Properties and what to do about them. Vacant
house or vacant lots? Parks, redevelopment, preservation, etc.?
Click here: Vacant Houses, Scourge of a Beaten-Down Buffalo - New York
Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/nyregion/13vacant.html?pagewanted=all\
> Excerpts: September 13, 2007
Vacant Houses, Scourge of a Beaten-Down Buffalo
the razing of thousands of vacant houses is being touted as a sign
of progress
.The burned-out and boarded-up buildings, which are
visible on nearly every street in east Buffalo, have deterred even the
most pioneering investors from moving in
. buildings on more
than 2,000 vacant properties have been destroyed since 2000
a
state program called, paradoxically, Restore NY. And the city plans to
match any donations earmarked for demolition from businesses and
philanthropists
... a weed-filled lot where several other houses
once stood. "No one has lived there for five years, and my kids play
around here. I worry about that."
The two houses recently torn down
were of no particular architectural or historic value. But
preservationists, planners and community activists worry that the city,
in its rush to pull down so many others, is destroying buildings that
could be rehabilitated and attract other development
Buffalo is not
alone in wrestling with how to save itself through selective
destruction. Philadelphia's efforts led to a mini-renaissance in
recent years; Detroit has had more mixed results. Youngstown, Ohio, is
debating whether to bulldoze entire neighborhoods and turn them into
parks
."We see a direct correlation between Buffalo's
poverty rate and physical blight,"
. "Abandoned housing
reinforces crime," he added.
Buffalo also has had a relatively hard time attracting the high-paying
jobs that draw newcomers or provide current residents with the extra
cash to fix up rundown homes.
Over the past two years, private
companies have spent or announced plans to invest $1.5 billion on
offices, stores and
. On some corners, pocket parks serve as lonely
place holders until money can be found for an alternative use. On many
streets, occupied homes are sprinkled among dilapidated ones and empty
lots
.But in many cases, the cost of fixing foundations, roofs and
interiors can exceed the value of the houses,
.
