Addressing the Vacant and Abandoned Property Problem

Abstract

Vacant and abandoned property is increasingly recognized as a significant barrier to the revitalization of central cities. This study sheds some light on the nature of the property abandonment problem and on current city efforts to address it. It is based upon the findings of a survey of the 200 most populous central cities in the United States, conducted during the summer and fall of 1997, and on follow-up interviews with a portion of the survey population, conducted during the summer of 1998. The findings of the survey and interviews indicate that vacant and abandoned property is perceived as a significant problem by elected and appointed officials in the nation's largest central cities. This type of property affects many aspects of community life, including housing and neighborhood vitality, crime prevention efforts, and commercial district vitality. Single-and multi-family housing, retail properties and vacant land are the most problematic types of vacant and abandoned property for most cities. Cities use a variety of techniques to address this problem, including aggressive code enforcement, tax foreclosure, eminent domain, and cosmetic improvements. One-third of the cities surveyed use a variety of other innovative tools to combat the vacant and abandoned property problem. Nevertheless, current efforts to combat the problem suffer from a number of shortcomings that are described in the article.

Ghettoizing Outdoor Advertising: Disadvantage and Ad Panel Density in Black Neighborhoods

“…17 We were particularly interested in the presence of vacant lots as a form of physical decay because this form of physical decay is one of the most visible and demoralizing signs of inner city decline, particularly in northeast cities. 18 In addition to negatively affecting the visual character of neighborhoods, vacant lots are often used for illicit activities such as drug sales or prostitution. 19 Thus, vacant lots in African American neighborhoods may serve to attract more outdoor advertisements because: (a) deteriorated space may be perceived by advertisers as markers of a community that may not be as well able to fend off unwanted outdoor ads, and/or one in which municipal regulations are minimally enforced; (b) landlords may be more inclined towards the financial rewards conferred by installing billboards on their buildings; and (c) deteriorated spaces simply create more available space within which ads may be placed, compared to neighborhoods that are more fully built up.…”

The Public Value of Urban Vacant Land: Social Responses and Ecological Value

“…By protecting the existing vacant land forest structure, owners receive utility tax credits, and thus save on water utility costs. For both short-term and long-term uses, one policy that has been found to encourage development is a tax system that collects a higher proportion from land value than from the value of improvements (buildings) [62]. By dropping the relative tax penalty for land development, owners are less likely to consider their vacant land as their primary asset, and unproductive speculation can be reduced [10].…”

“…Well-maintained vegetative structures affect both the property value and the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhood; cleaning and maintaining the land raises property values and hence increases tax receipts. If owners fail to maintain their vacant land, the city can enforce vacant land maintenance enforcement codes using fines and liens [62].…”

Parsing density changes: an outcome-oriented growth management policy analysis

“…Moreover, vacancy rates fluctuate as a result of housing supply-demand interactions and market adjustment processes (White, 1971;Forrest and Murie, 1994;Wood et al, 2006). Despite natural fluctuations, a trending increase in 8 housing vacancy rates can be an indicator of a range of generally negative issues including over heated markets, abandonment, or neighborhood decline (Van Grunsven, 1991;Accordino and Johnson, 2000;Cohen, 2001). …”