Grassroots Efforts to Deal With Repossession Properties

Grassroots efforts have started to sprout in several cities across the country to revive neighborhoods blighted by repossession properties.

In Louisville, Kentucky, a neighborhood association took matters into its hand and transformed a neighborhood of unsightly rows of abandoned, vacant and foreclosed homes into a poster child of urban renewal.

Boarded-up foreclosed houses were renovated and new homes were built on weed-infested lots. Also, a communal vegetable garden and a small park were created to provide green space in the neighborhood.

Many community groups and local governments in cities such as Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Philadelphia are fighting to revive neighborhoods blighted by repossession properties. They worked together to purchase lots, demolish decaying buildings and houses and create parks to make the neighborhoods welcoming to prospective homebuyers and investors.

Brookings Institution’s nonresident senior fellow Alan Mallach said that over 1.2 million repossession properties were posted in 2008. The increase in foreclosures has created a large volume of bank-owned property inventory which caused a drastic decline in home prices. Industry experts claimed that the unabated foreclosures also contributed to an increase in crime rate and low tax revenues.

Meanwhile, the National Vacant Properties Campaign provides guidance to help counties, cities and states revive vacant and foreclosed properties.

The campaign, funded by government and private grants, estimated that chronically abandoned and empty properties reached millions in numbers. And industry experts pointed out that the possibility for an immediate decline in the number of vacant properties is not viable as millions of houses are projected to go into foreclosures in coming years.

Meanwhile, the Green Up Pittsburgh initiative is converting empty properties into green spaces. The city of Pittsburgh is providing horticultural consultants to test soil. It also provides funds for initial plantings. A group of public works employees and volunteers help maintain the properties.

On the other hand, Cleveland city officials have launched the initiative Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland to revitalize vacant lands and convert them for commercial or residential use.

Additionally, some communities in the city are asking assistance from land banks to manage the growing number of idled properties in the area. Land banks are created to develop and manage tax-repossession properties.

Michigan Suburbs Alliance executive director Conan Smith said that having large blocks of land can be used by a city to attract developers.

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