Group items tagged

Cohen, James R. (2001). "Abandoned Housing: Exploring Lessons from Baltimore. Housing Policy Debate." 12(3), 415-48. Abstract: "Population loss and economic decline have resulted in thousands of abandoned homes in major U.S. cities. Although abandoned homes are symptomatic of other problems, they also contribute to neighborhood decline and frustrate revitalization. This article provides an overview of the national scope of abandoned housing and profiles Baltimore's strategy for addressing this problem. Challenges in Baltimore's revitalization planning include the necessity of and financial requirements for a comprehensive approach and the difficulty of reaching consensus. Widespread property "flipping" hampers prevention. Efforts to acquire and demolish units are constrained by difficulties in tracking ownership, felons' ownership of derelict units, and a shortage of staffing to process takings. Challenges in rehabilitating and marketing row houses include the need for subsidies to make units affordable to the most likely buyers, the omnipresence of lead paint, and the lack of foreign immigration. The article proposes a more strategic approach to the city's revitalization planning." [Also view: Culhane, Dennis P., and Amy E. Hillier (2001). "Comment on 'Abandoned Housing: Exploring Lessons From Baltimore.'" Housing Policy Debate. 12(3), 449-55.]

Culhane, Dennis P., and Amy E. Hillier (2001). "Comment on 'Abandoned Housing: Exploring Lessons From Baltimore.'" Housing Policy Debate. 12(3), 449-55. Abstract: "For most cities, the possibility of transforming unused property into community and city assets is as yet hypothetical. Fiscal constraints limit the amount of land acquisition, relocation, and demolition that cities can undertake. Private investors, unsure of which neighborhoods have a chance of becoming self‐sustaining, are reluctant to take risks in untested markets. Cities need to create citywide planning strategies for land aggregation and neighborhood stabilization and to develop analyses of the risks and opportunities associated with redevelopment opportunities in specific markets. Research seems sorely needed. Although the policy world cannot and will not stand still waiting for academics to design the perfect study or to collect all the data to model the potential effects of various policy options and investments, analysis that can play a more immediately supportive role can and should be done now." Also view: Cohen, James R. (2001). "Abandoned Housing: Exploring Lessons from Baltimore." Housing Policy Debate. 12(3), 415-48

Gasser, W. (1979). "The Southeast Land Bank." Journal of the American Planning Association. 45 (4), 532-537. Abstract: "The Southeast Land Bank of Baltimore is a community-controlled urban redevelopment corporation created to act as a holding company and broker for recycling neighborhood property. Three approaches were used to protect Upper Fell's Point from speculative pressures and neighborhood blight caused by a proposed road realignment. The Land Bank engaged in acquisition, holding, rehabilitation advice, and marketing of vacant houses in good condition, vacant and dilapidated houses, and absentee-owner, occupied houses that needed complete renovation. Despite the administrative and financial difficulties the Bank faced in its first eighteen months of operation, its experience provides valuable lessons for other community organizations interested in taking an active role in their neighborhoods' revitalization."

Howland, Marie. "The Role of Contamination in Central City Industrial Decline." Economic Development Quarterly 18, no. 3 (2004): 13. "This study examines the role that land contamination plays in hindering central city redevelopment. The author tracked all sales and selling prices and the presence of contamination in one industrial area of about 5,580 acres in southwest Baltimore. The results indicate that after the mid-1990s, contaminated parcels have been selling and the market has adjusted to contamination by lowering prices. Out of 144 parcels that sold over the past decade, positive, market-clearing prices have been found for 45 parcels with either confirmed or historical-reasons-to-suspect contamination. Interviews with owners and brokers of parcels on the market for 2 years or more and analysis of the data indicate that sites with above-market asking price; that are small and oddshaped; with inadequate road access for modern trucks; that have outdated water, sewer, and telecommunications connections; and with incompatible surrounding land uses are the most likely to remain unsold after 2 years."

Shroder, Mark, ed. "Brownfields." U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Cityscape 12, no. 3 (2010). This issue of Cityscape features articles on a variety of issues related to brownfields, such as federal policies; brownfields redevelopment; and the private markets.