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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The Downtown Weed and Seed was a leader in addressing vacant properties in their recent Crime prevention Through Environmental design meeting at Haskill. It is a shame that politicians and their entourages came and left as soon as they spoke. Even sadder that the Flint Journal could not have spent time there.
Kildee, now head of the Vacant Properties campaign only detailed the problem, but no solutions. Still the organization has publications that go back to 2006 and detail plans other communities have used to address the problems.
Empty houses increase in Genesee County; vacant homes plague all communities (with list)
Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011, 8:59 AM Updated: Thursday, March 24, 2011, 9:36 AM
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — The number of vacant houses in the county is growing, and no place is immune to the trend.
Over the last 10 years, every single community in Genesee County grew emptier — particularly Flint and the northern half of the county, according to new housing data released this week from the 2010 U.S. Census count.
Even communities that saw marked population growth since the 2000 Census count, such as Linden and Fenton Township, also saw increases in unoccupied homes because development far outpaced the number of people moving in, data show.
Countywide, there are nearly 23,000 vacant houses or housing units, up from 13,800 empty units in 2000, data show.
View full sizeDesertion clearly is a growing dilemma here, causing local governments to struggle with blight, public safety issues and declining tax revenue.
“This whole problem of abandoned property is not restricted to the city of Flint. It’s a problem in many parts of the county,” said Doug Weiland, executive director of the Genesee County Land Bank. “Long-term decline of employment in the area is obviously at the core of our problem.”
As jobs leave, so do the people — sometimes against their will. The number of homes in tax foreclosure in the city and the suburbs is growing, Weiland said.
The most vacant parts of the county include Flint, Mt. Morris Township and city, Genesee Township, Thetford Township, Clio and Flint Township — all of which have more than a 10 percent vacancy rate, according to census figures.
Ralph Dietlin only has to stand on his front porch to see evidence of Mt. Morris Township’s 14 percent vacancy rate, second only to the city of Flint’s 21 percent.
Boarded-up houses can be seen on either side of him, likely contributing to his home’s declining value, he said. It’s a stark contrast to when he moved to the neighborhood in 1967.
“There’s vacant houses all over the place,” said Dietlin, 68, a General Motors retiree. “They’re pretty much all boarded up.”
Nowhere in the county has a higher concentration of abandoned homes than in Flint. Its 10,800 vacant housing units makes it the second emptiest of Michigan’s major cities. Detroit is 2 percentage points higher than Flint and No. 1 with a 23 percent vacancy rate.
Mayor Dayne Walling said the numbers highlight the city’s challenge in using its available resources to make sure all 33 square miles of the city are served. He hasn’t changed his position against shrinking the city to conserve resources.
He wants to improve all the city’s neighborhoods, not some of them, he said.
“We need to create high-value, low-density neighborhoods (throughout the city) and high-value, high-density neighborhoods clustered around downtown,” he said.
Flint will continue to demolish houses using its federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant funding, he said, as well as blight elimination patrols to keep properties in decent shape.
But the city’s problem is even worse than it appears in the census data, Weiland said.
When you add in the number of vacant lots — about 10,000 of them — the city has a 37 percent vacancy rate, he said
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“One of the things I always try to get across is the sheer magnitude of the problem the city is facing,” he said. “You have to know how deep the problem is before you can do something with it.”
But, as always, funding is a major roadblock to a Flint recovery, Weiland. The NSP money is helping, but it’s not enough. The city has grant money to demolish about 1,000 units, he said, but there are probably another 9,000 that need to be knocked down.
“We would have to have 10 times the federal funding we have for demolition,” he said. “It becomes a very expensive proposition.”
The city of Mt. Morris has a vacancy rate of 12.5 percent, but City Manager Jake LaFurgey said there isn’t much city officials can do.
“I probably shouldn’t be (surprised),” he said. “We’ve noticed a trend of rentals. When you get that, you notice a trend of vacancies start to follow.”
But what’s most frustrating to LaFurgey is that since most of the vacant houses are owned by the Genesee County Land Bank or mortgage companies, the only thing the city can do is try to maintain the property as much as possible.
“We’re facing what’s there. There’s so much of it we can’t do anything about,” he said.
Weiland said the Land Bank has about 6,383 properties in the county, more than 5,000 of them in Flint. The majority of vacant properties in the county are owned by the private sector, he said.
No community was insulated completely from increased vacancies.
Flushing’s population grew over the last decade, but is vacancy rate also grew from 3.5 percent to 6.3 percent.
“We have the same issues that everybody else does as far as people being out of work,” City Manager Dennis Bow said.
Bow speculated that many of Flushing’s senior residents could be living in warmer Southern states for most of the year.
Bow said many new, younger families have been moving into the city. Those families are much more vulnerable to changes in the economy and may be more mobile than families in the past, he said.
“So many young people go to college and never come back,” Weiland said. “It’s all part and parcel to what they describe as the ‘brain drain.’
“The solution down the road is really improving employment opportunities so young people have a chance to stay here.”
Journal staff writer Sarah Schuch contributed to this report.
Here's a list of all Genesee County communities, the number of vacant units and 2010 vacancy rates, according to the 2010 U.S. Census:
Community Total Vacant Vacancy Rate
Genesee County 22,978 12.0%
Flint 10,849 21.1%
Mt. Morris Township 1,310 13.8%
Mt. Morris 188 12.5%
Genesee Township 1,181 12.2%
Thetford Township 324 10.8%
Clio 140 10.5%
Flint Township 1,548 10.4%
Gaines village 17 9.9%
Argentine Township 282 9.9%
Fenton Township 605 9.1%
Fenton 505 9.1%
Davison 222 8.6%
Burton 1,111 8.5%
Linden 143 8.4%
Montrose Township 196 8.2%
Grand Blanc Township 1,295 8.1%
Montrose 58 8.0%
Vienna Township 409 7.3%
Swartz Creek 195 7.1%
Davison Township 570 6.5%
Clayton Township 200 6.5%
Goodrich village 44 6.4%
Flushing 242 6.3%
Mundy Township 381 5.9%
Forest Township 113 5.8%
Grand Blanc 218 5.8%
Flushing Township 241 5.7%
Richfield Township 187 5.5%
Gaines Township 132 5.0%
Atlas Township 133 4.6% |
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:20 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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From the article ......
“There’s vacant houses all over the place,” said Dietlin, 68, a General Motors retiree. “They’re pretty much all boarded up.”
Sure not true around here!
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Flint will continue to demolish houses using its federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant funding, he said, as well as blight elimination patrols to keep properties in decent shape.
Blight elimination when the land bank is exempt from all ordinances? Good luck with that! Proctor between Dayton & Hamilton is a nightmare & primarily all land bank owned. |
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I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:02 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| I know what you mean Dave, but instead of taking the lead the Land bank displays an air of complacency. Kildee is traveling around the country touting solutions when Flint is in desperate need. |
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:22 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:28 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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PDF] Mayors' Resource Guide on Vacant and Abandoned PropertiesFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
National Housing Institute. A joint publication of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Housing. Task Force, the National Vacant Properties Campaign, and ...
www.vacantproperties.org/resources/Mayor's%20Guide_FINAL.pdf►Partner Reports - National Vacant Properties Campaign In a new publication by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Vacant ...
www.vacantproperties.org/resources/partner.html - Cached - Similarforeclosure resources all - National Vacant Properties Campaign National Vacant Properties Cammpaign: Creating Opportunity from Abandonment ...
www.vacantproperties.org/foreclosureresources.html - CachedShow more results from vacantproperties.org |
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:30 pm |
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