Government Focus On Abandoned Properties Shows Results

"A 30-person unit of Duggan’s staff has identified 12,000 abandoned homes across Detroit and used the law and property records to bring owners to court. So far, 810 homes have been "rescued," meaning renovated; 480 are in the process of being rescued; 508 have been demolished; 372 are awaiting demolition; and 1,975 properties are in litigation. Cynics and Duggan’s would-be successors may wonder why the prosecutor appears to be in real estate. But realists understand that abandoned housing and the associated crime impedes revitalization and business investment. Duggan’s office isn’t in the real estate business, it’s in the responsibility business. This is 'the kind of project that has succeeded in the city of Detroit where so many other have failed,' Paul Hillegonds, president of Detroit Renaissance, told me. That’s why officials in Chicago and Atlanta want to know how Wayne County is doing what it’s doing and others are bestowing awards on it."

Thanks to Richard Layman