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Raheel Khan
Profesor Elizabeth Hudson
Honors 1000
29 November 2014
Vacant Properties: Abandoning the Cities
Many cities are plagued with the problems that occurred throughout their history. One
historical issue that is greatly affecting cities today is vacant properties. Vacant properties are a
result from the flight of the middle class from the cities to suburbia. The residents that were left
are suffering because of this. They arent able to keep up with the costly maintenance required
for a property. As a result surrounding property values decline along with the cities tax revenue
from those properties. Vacant properties are also a breeding ground for drug crime, vandalism,
and arson (Accordino). On top of that, they are visually unappealing and bring with them
negative stigmas. Many cities realize the problems that vacant properties cause and are trying to
come up with solutions. Solutions range from drastic approaches such as demolitions to
conservative approaches such as leaving notices to maintain a property. The best approach that
Ive seen is San Diegos solution. They use a three-part strategy to reduce vacant properties.
This approach will work the best to reduce the abandoned buildings in Detroit and other urban
centers in my opinion.
Like most current urban problems, they stem from certain events that occurred in a cities
history. Detroit is definitely not exempt from this assumption. Detroit, like many other
industrial cities, was plagued by the middle class flight to suburban areas. This didnt occur by
coincidence though. Many factors came into play that caused this flight. Racial tension and the
housing market was one of the main factors. When blacks moved to a middle class, white

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neighborhood in the city, it would decrease the property values. In order to conserve as much
equity as they could, middle class whites would move to suburban areas where the property
values were much higher and more stable (Accordino). This flight left the working class and the
blacks in the neighborhoods with steadily declining property values. With low property values,
landlords took in less income and would thus defer maintenance to save money (Accordino).
With the construction of the interstate highway, outmigration of the white middle class to
suburbia was further accelerated. Middle class left urban centers with lower tax revenue and was
a big part of causing urban decline and abandonment of properties.
Vacant properties cause many problems for the surrounding area. Vacant lots damage a
city financially. They tend to lower property values and decrease tax revenue for the cities.
According to a study in Philadelphia, vacant lots diminish the housing value of the entire city by
6.5 percent (Fraser). Vacant lots also use up 20 million dollars in city services per year (Fraser).
Vacant housing is highly correlated with crime rates as well (Onwuchekwa). Abandoned
buildings are great spots for criminal activity to occur. Many buildings are used for prostitution
or drug production (Spelman). Since these properties provide a concealed environment, police
are less likely to be able to spot criminal activity going on inside the properties. The crime incurs
fear to the surrounding residents. They are unable to go out of their houses without fear of
crimes being committed against them. This causes psychological problems because of the
isolation that they face (Ross/Mirowsky). Vacant properties are also prone to arson. The fires
can spread to surrounding properties that could be occupied. They also put police officers and
firefighters lives in jeopardy. The abandoned buildings are also good spots for squatters.
Squatters are people that have no legal right to settle on a property but do so anyways. They can
be a nuisance by stealing utilities such as water and electricity from neighboring residents,

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disrupt the peace in the neighborhood, and may even cause fires on the property. When they are
done using a property, they can burglarize the property by stealing building components such as
electrical wires or even doors and windows. Public health is also reduced in neighborhoods with
vacant buildings. Vacant properties have feces, trash, rotting building materials such as lead and
asbestos, and mold that all threaten public health in the vicinity (Branas). With all the problems
that vacant properties cause, many cities have found it imperative to implement programs to
reduce the number of abandoned buildings.
Many cities have implemented programs to fight the vacant property problem. Cities like
Richmond try to involve the community more to solve the problem. Richmonds Operation
Squalor Program wants citizens to submit complaints of a vacant property to the city
(Accordino). When a complaint is submitted, the owner of the property will be tried or fined.
Sadly this program has only been successfully completed once. The Citizen Inspection Program
in Harrisburg uses the same method. They train residents in a neighborhood to inspect houses to
see if they are vacant and then submit a complaint (Accordino). Both of these citizen-oriented
programs rely too heavily on residents willingness to take action against vacant properties.
Unfortunately, most residents arent motivated enough to take action since the programs havent
been all that effective. Cities like San Jose, Providence, and Pittsburgh have tried to take a more
punitive approach. These cities make owners of a vacant property pay a fine until the property is
brought up to optimal conditions. The Clean and Lien Program in Providence issues a fine to
whoever uses a vacant lot to dump trash (Accordino). Macon, Georgia takes a more drastic
approach by even issuing jail time if a vacant property isnt fixed up by the owner (Accordino).
These tactics do scare some owners into fixing the property but tend to ignore the fact that some
owners cant afford to fix up a property. Baltimore has an aggressive approach of demolishing

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and boarding up buildings that are vacant (Accordino). This approach clears out vacant
buildings rather quickly but doesnt do much to build on the now empty lots. Other cities sell
abandoned buildings to parties that are willing to fix up the propery for cheap. Cities like
Nashville take possession of a vacant property and give it to anybody that is willing to live in the
property for at least seven years (Accordino). This approach works only if there are people that
are willing to deal with the hassle of fixing up the property. Detroit has taken some of these
approaches and has come up with its own programs.
Detroit has used a variety of programs to fix its vacant housing problem. One of its
programs takes vacant properties and gives it away to people who will repair the property and
live in it for at least three years (Accordino). This is far more lenient that Nashvilles program
which requires at least seven years instead of Detroits three. Detroit has a lot more programs
that focus on selling vacant properties cheaply. One program called the 100 dollar side lot
program lets residents buy up neighboring vacant lots for a measly 100 dollars (Cwiek). In order
to more easily sell the properties, Detroit has made a website to sell the land (Helms). The most
successful Detroit program was the Michigan Land Bank Program. The Land Banks are able to
more quickly take control of a property through tax foreclosure (Fraser). This program differs
from other programs in that it doesnt just auction off a property to just anybody. It makes sure
the property is used in order to improve the community whether it be demolishing, rehabilitating,
selling, or renting the property (Fraser). Land Banks also benefit the state by generating revenue.
They do this by collecting interest penalties and principal from delinquent property owners
(Fraser). By doing this the Land Bank can pay for the costs of reusing the property (Fraser).
This solution has helped the problem the most in Detroit although it isnt the best solution for
Detroit in my opinion.

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Detroit needs an effective program to reduce its 22.8 percent vacant housing rate (Census
SF1). I believe that Detroit should use the program that San Diego uses. San Diego has a threepart strategy to reduce the vacant property (Accordino). The first part uses the Landlord
Training Program which trains landlords on how to prevent crime in their vacant properties
(Accordino). This will reduce the crime; allowing the residents to feel safer and increase
property values. The second part issues a notice to property owners to clean up their vacant
properties (Accordino). They need to send a notice showing intent to fix up the property which
if they fail to do; they will be fined 250 dollars per quarter (Accordino). The third part issues a
Vacant and Abandoned Property Coordinator who helps the owners rehabilitate or sell the
property (Accordino). This program has been proven to be fairly effective considering it has
been closed through voluntary compliance 90 percent of the time (Accordino). I found that this
program helps out the owners instead of just taking the property from them or demolishing the
property right away. This approach benefits the community and the owner of the property by
allowing the owner to keep the property and helps them to repair the property to enhance the
overall community aesthetic.
Detroit and many cities like it have been plagued by the mistakes of the past. If we keep
letting these vacant properties go unnoticed, then the problem will further intensify to the point
where it wont be able to be fixed anymore. It is up to the residents, organizations, and the city
governments to cure the cities from this disease in the form of vacant properties. Detroit
especially has many vacant properties to deal with. In order to effectively deal with all those
properties, it has to implement the three-part strategy that San Diego uses to eliminate the vacant
properties.

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Works Cited
Onwuchekwa, Ezenwanyi. "Crime Analysis in the San Antonio Area between 2006 and 2010
using GIS Applications." Order No. AAI1518692 ProQuest. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
Spelman, W. "Abandoned Buildings: Magnets for Crime?" Journal of Criminal Justice 21.5
(1993): 481-95. Print.
Ross, Catherine E., and John Mirowsky. "Neighborhood Disadvantage, Disorder, and Health."
Journal of Health and Social Behavior 42.3: 258-76. Print.
Branas, Charles. "A Difference in Differences: Analysis of Health, Safety, and Greening Vacant
Urban Space." American Journal of Epidemiology 174.11 (2011): 1296-306. Print.
Accordino, John, and Gary Johnson. "Addressing the Vacant and Abandoned Property Problem."
<i>Journal of Urban Affairs</i> 22.3 (2002): 301-15. Print.
Cwiek, Sarah. "Detroit Ramps up $100 "side Lot" Program." Michigan Radio 19 Nov. 2014.
MIchigan Radio. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://michiganradio.org/post/detroit-ramps-100-side-lotprogram>.
Fraser, Jeffery. "The Cost of Blight: Vacant and Abandoned Properties." Pittsburgh Quarterly 20
Aug. 2011. Print.
"Housing Vacancy Rate Map." Data Driven Detroit. Data Driven Detroit, 1 July 2012. Web. 29
Nov. 2014.
Helms, Matt. "Detroit Launching Auction Website to Sell Homes." Detroit Free Press 14 Apr.
2014. Detroit Free Press. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014304140154>.