Every city with neighborhoods in decline and a lack of demand for new investment is faced with the challenge of how to address blight. Each city's challenges are unique, but many are finding new and effective strategies to end the spread of blight.
Emily Badger reports on novel techniques in cities around the country to combat blight—especially the creeping kind of blight that starts small and picks up momentum as it consumes whole blocks and neighborhoods.
Badger introduces a few examples of the blight reduction work from Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Jacksonville before providing in-depth analysis of work by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to clean newly empty lots and maintain exiting ones. "Today, it regularly maintains about 6,500 greened vacant lots, April through October (the program has also created a landscaping industry in the city from scratch). Another 2,100 lots receive care once a month from paid neighbors. Since the start of the program, about 700 lots have gone on to be redeveloped."
All that hard work in Philadelphia has produced a wealth of academic research, listed by Badger, on the benefits of blight reduction programs.
FULL STORY: How cities are starting to turn back decades of creeping urban blight
Federal Agencies Investigating the Rising Costs of Detroit's Blight Program
Detroit's aggressive blight reduction strategy, to demolish vacant homes by the thousands, is coming under scrutiny for rising costs. The FBI and the U.S. Inspector General are investigating.
A Closer Look at Detroit's Blighted Properties
The New York Times has produced a pair of visualization tools to present the findings of the recent report by Detroit's Blight Removal Task Force.
Report Recommends $850 Million to Eradicate Detroit's Blight
The Detroit Blight Removal Task Force released its highly anticipated "Every neighborhood has a future...And it doesn't include blight" report today.
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How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
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Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research