Revitalizing Vacant Properties and Substandard Buildings
PM. Public Management › Vol. 86 Nbr. 4, May 2004
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Summary
According to the broken-window theory, a few abandoned buildings can trigger a spiral of decline and disinvestment that strains local budgets and encourages businesses and residents to flee inner-city neighborhoods and declining suburbs. Schilling discusses the primary mission of local law enforcement and code departments that is to abate the public nuisances and stabilize the sites. But, many local governments find it difficult to strategically integrate the abatement of vacant properties with other departments that administer rehabilitation resources, housing programs, and long-term land use planning.
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Revitalizing Vacant Properties and Substandard Buildings
Vacant properties-dilapidated housing, abandoned buildings, and vacant lots-present communities with a complex problem and a compelling opportunity for neighborhood revitalization. In some local governments, the problem may be an isolated house or apartment building that deteriorates to the point where the property owner decides to evict the tenants yet fails to board up the windows.
Derelict apartment buildings, boarded storefronts, and vacant single-family houses, however, can quickly become havens for crime and squalor. According to the broken-window theory, a few abandoned buildings can trigger a spiral of decline and disinvestment that strains local budgets and encourages businesses and residents to flee inner-city neighborhoods and declining suburbs.A WIDESPREAD PROBLEMCommunities of all sizes confront the disinvestment a...See the full content of this document
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