This thoughtful and data-rich paper explores the issue of endemic long-term vacancies on urban neighborhoods and describes some of the ways communities across the country are dealing with it.

“Vacant and abandoned properties are a familiar part of the American landscape, from the boarded row house in North Philadelphia to the empty factory in Detroit to the collapsing farmhouse in rural Kansas. These structures can devastate the neighborhood and block, undermine the neighbors’ quality of life, and diminish the value of nearby properties. They also cause severe fiscal damage to local governments, reducing local tax revenues while costing cities millions for policing, cleaning vacant lots, and demolishing derelict buildings.”

Allan Mallach, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

• TAGS:
• Equity,
• planning,
• social equity,
• urban adaptation,
• urban wood,
• wood products