Transcript 1-2-vacant-properties

Smart Growth Saves
Costs of Abandoned
and Vacant Properties
Costs of Vacant Properties
• Social costs of blighted neighborhoods
• Increases in crime and arson, further
burdening already strapped fire and police
budgets.
• Lost property taxes.
• Reduced neighboring property values, further
reducing tax revenues and depressing the
local economy.
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Vacancy and Abandonment by Region
Region
Number of Cities
Reporting
Abandoned
Property Data
Average % of
Vacant Land to
Total Area
Average Number of
Abandoned
Structures per 1000
Inhabitants
Northwest
7
8.3
7.47
Midwest
10
11.3
3.16
South
20
17.1
2.98
West
23
15.7
0.62
All Regions
60
24.8
2.63
Source: Pagano & Bowman, Vacant Land In Cities: An Urban Resource,” Brookings, 2000 p. 7
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Vacant Properties
Incubate Crime
• A study in Richmond, VA, found that the number
of vacant/abandoned properties was more closely
related to the incidence of crime than any other
factor.
• A study in Austin, TX, found that the rate of crime
on blocks with open abandoned buildings was
twice as high as on blocks without open buildings.
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Vacant Properties
Increase Fire Hazards
• Over 12,000 fires are reported each year in vacant
structures in the U.S, resulting in over $73 million
in property damage annually.
• Over 70% of these fires are due to arson.
• Over 6,000 firefighters are injured every year in
vacant or abandoned buildings.
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Vacant Properties
Require Expensive Clean-up
• Trenton, NJ, dedicated between $500,000 and $1
million per year to cleaning up vacant properties.
• Detroit spends $800,000 a year just to clean
vacant lots.
• St. Louis spent over $15.5 million on demolition
costs over a 5 year period.
• Philadelphia projects spending nearly $50 million
over a 20 year period on maintaining vacant lots.
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Vacant Properties
Reduce Revenues
• 83% of property tax balances due are lost on foreclosed
properties.
• A review of taxes property tax collections in St. Paul
Minnesota found that a un-renovated, inhabited home
produces about 5 times the tax revenue of a vacant home
and that a renovated inhabited home produces about 11
½ times the revenue of a vacant property.
• Overall, the failure of cities to collect even 2-4% of
property taxes due to abandonment or delinquency
translates in between $3 and $6 billion in lost revenue.
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Vacant Properties
Reduce Surrounding Property Values
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Case Study: Flint, MI
The Cost of Abandonment

• Over 12,000 fires reported in abandoned buildings each
year, leading to $73 million in damage
– Abandoned buildings increase crime, used for drug storage
• An additional abandoned structure reduces the sales price
of a residence…
– By 2.27% if it is within 500 feet
– By 1.92% if it is between 501 and 1000 feet
– By 1.11% if it is between 1001 and 1500 feet
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