Empty Lots
Many communities hit hard by the housing crisis have come to a grim conclusion: bulldoze to survive. Sparsely populated neighborhoods and abandoned houses are costly to maintain, and many turn to bulldozing to save money and keep crime rates down. By razing entire communities, local governments have fewer streets to clean, garbage to collect and neighborhoods to police, said Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County in Flint Michigan. Demolishing vacant properties is even encouraged in a Housing and Urban Development Department initiative known as the “Neighborhood Stabilization Program,” which provides over $7 billion in grants for different community revitalization initiatives. Welcome to the new American suburb.
