This photo of an abandoned home on Dubail was taken in October 2011. File photo by Marcus Marter.
SOUTH BEND -- The mayor's office today released a report outlining the vacant and abandoned housing problem in the city and recommending possible solutions, including the targeted demolition of dilapidated structures and the formation of a local land bank to acquire, manage and dispose of such properties in a manner that improves the city's neighborhoods.
Produced over the past 12 months by a special Vacant and Abandoned Housing Task Force consisting of city and county officials, private sector practitioners and neighborhood advocates, the 78-page report is intended to guide the city administration as it undertakes more proactive and ambitious action to improve the city's neighborhoods.
Beginning with a history of the problem, which the report attributes to a variety of factors, including an overabundant supply of homes in the city, the expansion of the city through annexation, increased housing options outside of the city, property tax reassessment and the foreclosure crisis, the report goes on to summarize the current situation and recommend possible solutions.
The report cites a 2011 survey showing a total of about 1,275 vacant and abandoned houses in the city. For the purposes of the report, a vacant and abandoned house is defined as a house in which no one has lived for at least 90 days and which has a code violation that has not been addressed for more than 30 days.
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