Other Sources

Ahrens, Marty. Vacant Building Fires. National Fire Protection Association. April 2009. Fires in vacant buildings have become a matter of increasing concern as the economy has weakened. According to this report, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 31,000 structure fires in vacant buildings in 2003-2006. These fires caused an average of 50 civilian deaths and $642 million in direct property damage per year. Overall, vacant building fires rose 2 percent from 2005 to 2006; the increase was due largely to an 11 percent increase in vacant home fires. Forty-three percent of vacant building fires were intentionally set.

Dewar, Margaret and Kris Wernstedt. Challenges in Reusing Vacant, Abandoned, and Contaminated Properties. Land Lines. April 2009. Nonprofit developers play an important role in redeveloping vacant properties. This paper finds that the character of institutions, political settings, and social relationships is critical in determining whether nonprofit developers are effective in reusing vacant, abandoned, and contaminated properties in their communities. The need for specialized expertise to address contamination costs, uncertain financing, and longer project timelines present barriers for nonprofit developers, but policy and budgetary changes to support activity by these actors can signficantly enhance the reuse of distressed properties.

Schilling, Joseph. Code Enforcement and Community Stabilization: The Forgotten First Responders to Vacant and Foreclosed Homes. Albany Government Law Review. 2009

This article begins with a national perspective on the community impacts of the foreclosure crisis and includes a snapshot survey of local code enforcement officials. It then focuses on the policy and political controversy over vacant property ordinances and concludes with a range of state and federal policy ideas and observations about how code enforcement officials can engender more political support for local code enforcement agencies. The article is part of the Albany Government Law Review's Volume 2, Issue 1: The Worst of Times: Perspectives on and Solutions for the Subprime Mortgage Crisis. Visit the Albany Government Law Review's website to purchase the volume.

Pierce, Stephanie Casey. Emerging Trends: State Actions to Tackle the Foreclosure Crisis. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. February 2009

This report explores the policies and programs states have created to continue responding to the growing foreclosure crisis, as well as the factors that affect states' reponses, including the weakening national economy, which has put pressures on state budgets, and new federal programs that direct funding to states or affect state efforts to help homeowners obtain loan modifications.

Fox, Radhika and Miriam Axel-Lute. To Be Strong Again: Renewing the Promise in Smaller Industrial Cities. PolicyLink. 2008

This new publication presents an equitable development agenda for redeveloping smaller industrial cities. With populations ranging from 15,000 to 150,000 and median household incomes below $35,000, these cities face unique challenges, but with coordinated action, they can also realize great successes. The action ideas and case studies in To Be Strong Again illustrate how smaller industrial cities can regain their rightful place among America’s diverse and healthy metropolitan regions. Visit PolicyLink’s website to download a copy of the publication and check out related resources including reports, blog posts, and an interactive map.

Lind, Kermit. The Perfect Storm: An Eyewitness Report from Ground Zero in Cleveland's Neighborhoods. Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development. Volume 17. Spring 2008 (148kb PDF)

This is an eyewitness report from an attorney working with Cleveland neighborhood development corporations, including one in Slavic Village, a neighborhood sometimes referred to as "ground zero" in the mortgage meltdown. The report describes the impact of the mortgage failures in Cleveland neighborhoods and the responses by nonprofit development corporations and local government, as well as identifies programs and policies being developed to help prepare for rebuilding neighborhoods.

Global Insight. The Mortgage Crisis: Economic and Fiscal Implications for Metro Areas. Prepared for The United States Conference of Mayors and the Council for the New American City. November 2007 (72kb PDF)

This report describes the profound economic implications of the recent mortgage credit foreclosure crisis. Estimates show that the U.S. GDP will be $166 billion lower as a result, with 524,000 fewer jobs created across the country in 2008, a $1.2 trillion decline in property values, and enormous downward pressure imposed on state and local government revenue sources. The report illustrates the magnitude of these impacts for selected states.

Urban Information Associates, Inc. Economic Impact of Project SCOPE Prepared for Baltimore Efficiency and Economy Foundation, Inc. June 2006 (648kb PDF)

Wachter, Susan. The Determinants of Neighborhood Transformation in Philadelphia, Identification and Analysis: The New Kensington Pilot Study. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Fall 2005 (19.1mb PDF)

In communities with many vacant lots and a falling population, immediate rebuilding may not be an option. Cleaning up vacant lots and seeding them with grass and plantings can help increase neighborhood property values. A recent report by Susan Wachter, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, validates what "clean and green" advocates have known for some time - that investment in greening translates not only into increased quality of life benefits, but also into higher property values. Wachter's study, which analyzed more than 3,000 home sales from 1980 to 2003, found that sales prices increased as much as 30 percent when homes were located near vacant lots that had been "cleaned and greened."

Kelly, Jr., James J. Refreshing the Heart of the City: Vacant Building Receivership As a Tool for Neighborhood Revitalization and Community Empowerment. Journal of Affordable Housing. Volume 13, Number 2. Winter 2004 (160kb PDF)

Farris, Terrence J. The Barriers to Using Urban Infill Development to Achieve Smart Growth. Housing Policy Debate. Volume 12, Issue 1. 2001
The smart growth movement of the 1990s has seen many development and planning associations, state and local governments, and the Clinton administration encourage significant infill development to control sprawl and promote revitalization. A review of 22 major central cities shows that they captured only 5.2 percent of total new metropolitan housing permits over the decade: 2.2 percent of single-family permits and 14.9 percent of multifamily permits. This analysis identifies the practical barriers to urban infill development, including land assembly and infrastructure costs, unwillingness to condemn, municipal social goals and regulatory policies, difficulty of finding developer, complexities of public-private partnerships, excessive risks, resistance from local residents, and stakeholder conflicts and political constraints. While supporting infill, smart growth advocates should focus primarily on encouraging higher-density, quality suburban and outlying growth.

Cohen, James. “Abandoned Housing: Exploring Lessons from Baltimore.” Housing Policy Debate. Volume 12, Issue 3. 2001
Population loss and economic decline have produced thousands of abandoned homes in major U.S. cities. This article provides an overview of the national scope of abandoned housing and profiles Baltimore's strategy for addressing the problem. Cohen identifies several major challenges for Baltimore: the need for good planning and a comprehensive approach to neighborhood revitalization; preventing more housing from being abandoned; acquiring and demolishing abandoned units; and rehabilitating and marketing units that can be saved. Baltimore's older housing stock consists largely of row houses that are too small for today's housing market, necessitating demolition or expansion. While deemed necessary for market reasons, demolition is opposed in some cases for reasons of historic preservation. Revitalization is further complicated by difficulties in tracking ownership of abandoned housing as well as inadequate city resources to process takings and demolish properties. As solutions, the author points to the need for comprehensive neighborhood-based planning and for streamlining the property acquisition process.

Keating, Larry & David Sjoquist. “Bottom Fishing: Emergent Policy Regarding Tax Delinquent Properties.” Housing Facts and Figures. Volume 3, Issue 1
The term "bottom fishing" refers to an investment strategy of looking for stock "shares whose prices have dropped so low that they represent excellent value, even if the prospects for the company are not great in the short term" (from finance-glossary.com). Tax delinquent properties in urban neighborhoods—often abandoned and derelict—are the real estate equivalent of such stocks. Developing effective policies and processes to return tax delinquent properties to productive use poses a significant short-term challenge, but successfully meeting that challenge can be an investment coup for city officials and community leaders.

Smart Codes in your Community: A Guide to Building Rehabilitation Codes. Published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. August 2001
This report provides a broad overview of the general regulatory environment governing the use and reuse of existing buildings. It also provides examples of state and local efforts to reduce regulatory complexity and suggests possible strategies to help spur reinvestment in the existing building infrastructure.

Temple University Center for Public Policy & Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project. (2001) Blight Free Philadelphia: A Public-Private Strategy to Create and Enhance Neighborhood Value. Available online: http://www.temple.edu/cpp/cpp_reports.htm

Goetz, Edward G.; Cooper, Kristin; Thiele, Bret; & Lam, Hin Kin. (1998) “Pay Now or Pay More Later: St. Paul’s Experience in Rehabilitating Vacant Housing.” CURA Reporter April 1998: 12-15. Available online: www.cura.umn.edu/reporter/98-Apr/article3.pdf

Greenberg, Michael R., Popper, Frank J., & West, Bernadette M. (1990) “The TOADS: A New American Urban Epidemic” Urban Affairs Quarterly 25(3): 435-453.

Spelman, William (1993) “Abandoned Buildings: Magnets for Crime?” Journal of Criminal Justice 21(5): 481-495.

Colvin, Ashley; Fergusson, Ian; & Phillips, Heather. (2000) “Renewing the Urban Landscape: The Dilemma of Vacant Housing” Center for Public Policy Research – The Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy at the College of William Mary for The International City County Management Association.

Jakle, John & Wilson, David. (1992) Derelict Landscapes. Savage, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.

Burchell, Robert W. & Listokin, David. (1981) The Adaptive Reuse Handbook: Procedures to Inventory, Control, Manage, and Reemploy Surplus Municipal Properties. Piscataway, NJ: The Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University.

Grow Smart Rhode Island. (1999) The Costs of Suburban Sprawl and Urban Decay in Rhode Island – Executive Summary. Prepared by H.C. Planning Consultants, Inc. & Planimetrics, LLP. Available online: http://www.growsmartri.com/reports.html