Recently, the City Council of Chicago approved an ordinance that will hold lending institutions responsible for the maintenance of foreclosed properties. Prior to this move, community groups have been increasingly vocal, responding to rising crime rates in the past few months. According to residents, abandoned buildings become “crime havens” for squatters, gangs, and drug dealers,
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Beginning August 1 2011, the City of Newark, NJ will require owners of inhabitable vacant residential properties to register with the City and to maintain and secure vacant properties. Under the recently-passed Vacant Property Ordinance, failure to do so will lead to fines and Municipal Court action. “Abandoned and neglected properties, if left unaddressed, can
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In eastern New Orleans, individuals from 24 cities in six states bid for and bought 90 houses through the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority program. NORA requires each bidder to significantly restore properties within a year and agree to live there for three years. Jon Johnson,the City Councilman who represents an expanse of neighborhoods east of
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From 1801 to 1970, the Philadelphia Navy Yard served as a landfill and incinerator, contaminated by shipbuilding and other industrial activities. Since 1970, the area has been largely abandoned, until recently, when the city decided to redevelop the area with a commitment to sustainability, reflecting Mayor Nutter’s goal of establishing the city as the greenest
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In Fairbanks, Alaska, artist and urbanist Candy Chang invited community members to voice their vision for an abandoned building. For the project, ‘Looking for Love Again,’ chalkboards at the building’s base provide space where individuals can write their ideas for how the building could be reused. Chang hopes that ‘Looking For Love’ leads residents to
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