City Demolishes 1 Of 5,300 Blighted Homes
COLUMBUS, Ohio—The City of Columbus tore down a vacant home on Dakota Avenue Wednesday morning to cheers of local residents, however it is just one small piece of a much larger puzzle.
So far in 2009, the city has torn down 13 abandoned homes, but Mayor Michael Coleman says there are 5,300 of them in the city.
“There’s 17 percent of the houses in Franklinton that are vacant. You gotta remember when Franklinton was built out it had 30,000 residents. We currently have about 14,000 residents. There’s just more houses than we can use out there,“ said Jim Sweeny, of the Franklinton Development Association.
Not all of the homes need torn down, as some can be refurbished, but the city budget continues to shrink for abandoned home demolition, being cut by about 50 percent each year.
It costs approximately $12,000 to claim a home and demolish it.
By the end of the year, the city will have torn down 19 homes—that’s all the money they have.
“Over 2007, we had a couple hundred thousand dollars. Last year, we had over $100,000. This year, we have about $50,000 to $55,000 is all for demolition,“ Coleman said.
Currently, the city is averaging about one home every three weeks.
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Reader Reactions
Well, at this rate they should get done about the year 2100..but by then there’ll be another 5300 homes needing torn down…
Another thing about landlords: They have the money to buy houses, which many people don’t.
The big problem is landlords. Neighborhoods that are owner-occupied stay solid. When landlords start buying houses it is only a matter of time until the neighborhood goes to crap. Landlords don’t care if the house looks nice. Landlords don’t connect with neighbors and support civic associations. Landlords will rent to any old scumbag. If Columbus were to pass laws that forbid the renting of single family homes then you could start rebuilding neighborhoods.
Yeah anything to try and score points for election time next year but news flash mayor no one cares. But there is a house at innis and parsons he can tear down.It is sitting in a empty field all by it,s lonesome so please mayor tear it down.
You blow the value of the home right out of the ballpark when you rehab down there it’s useless.
Hey (BroncoDan) I completely agree with
you!! You would think that the Mayor
would allow private investors to come in and rehab these homes to bring them
up to code to make affordable low income
housing but I guess that makes to much sense, plus the Mayor wouldn’t be able to get his face in the paper for his
political gain.
Hey i know a (home) that you can tear down and it is at the corner of broad and front street.OH darn wait a minute that is city hall never mind.
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