Today's Washington Post has this article describing how banks possessing foreclosed properties in distressed urban areas -- a program in Cleveland is discussed in particular -- are giving away the properties to charitable "land banks," which in turn bulldoze the properties as part of a sort of urban renewal program, with the banks paying for the demolition. The article explains:
The banks have even been footing the bill for the demolitions — as much as $7,500 a pop. Four years into the housing crisis, the ongoing expense of upkeep and taxes, along with costly code violations and the price of marketing the properties, has saddled banks with a heavy burden. It often has become cheaper to knock down decaying homes no one wants.
And it's hoped that these programs will, to some degree, revitalize distressed neighborhoods:
The demolitions in some cases have paved the way for community gardens, church additions and parking lots. Even when the result is an empty lot, it can be one less pockmark. While some widespread demolitions could risk hollowing out the urban core of struggling cities such as Cleveland, advocates say that the homes being targeted are already unsalvageable and that the bulldozers are merely “burying the dead.”
Worth reading.
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