Syracuse, like many other rust belt cities, is struggling with vacant houses. Recent estimates, bolstered by more accurate record keeping, have shown the number of vacant houses rising. Paul Driscoll, the city’s commissioner of neighborhoods and business development, says there are now at least 1,700 vacant properties in the city. But Driscoll says there are ways to handle blight.
1. Cities need to keep track of the issue
You need to know the problem, and you have to own the problem. Turning the other way and not counting it means planners have no idea what’s out there.
2. Get a handle on the city’s vacant housing stock to help stabilize the housing market
Vacant and derelict properties drag down the value of surrounding properties. Studies show one bad house can take down a block or a whole neighborhood. Keeping on top of properties that are heading south can prevent blight from piling up – and property values from plummeting en masse.
3. Use technology to keep track of vacant properties.
GIS Mapping and other advances in technology can help cities do this. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow city planners to create layered maps of a city, dedicating one layer to vacant properties, and another to demographic information. Examining where vacant properties in a city are located is a way to analyze and focus revitalization strategies.
4. Target your efforts
With a limited amount of resources, a scattershot approach isn’t going to solve the problem. So you really need to focus on areas that are 15 blocks or smaller in order to make an impact with any sort of revitalization effort.
5. Don’t look at vacant properties as single entities
Don’t look at vacant structures in a vacuum. They are part of a block or neighborhood. Developers should create “block plans,” not just individual property restoration plans. Driscoll says Syracuse doesn’t want applications for 123 Main Street, they want to know how property development is going to affect the entire 100 block of Main Street.
Innovation Trail is working on highlighting one Syracuse start-up’s solution to the vacant housing problem. D-Build.org works to promote deconstruction for blighted properties rather than demolition. If a house is deconstructed, the materials can be repurposed for new construction projects rather than end up in a landfill. More on that in the coming week. To comment on vacant housing, visit our Facebook page.
