Evidence Matters Features Vacant and Abandoned Properties

Evidence Matters Features Vacant and Abandoned Properties

The winter 2014 issue of Evidence Matters: Transforming Knowledge Into Housing and Community Development Policy, focusing on the challenges of vacant and abandoned properties, is now available. The issue introduces root causes of vacancy and discusses its impact on communities. It outlines strategies that governments and organizations are utilizing to understand and address this problem and highlights two specific approaches to reclaim vacant land for productive use.

Key Findings

• Vacant and abandoned properties are linked with reduced property values, increased crime, increased risk to public health and welfare, and increased costs for municipal governments.
   

• A data driven approach is helping local jurisdictions stem and reverse a large-scale tide of foreclosures, vacancies, and abandonment in the U.S.
   

• Strategies for mitigating the negative effects of vacant and abandoned spaces and for transforming them into positive community opportunities vary according to local market conditions.
   

• Land banks differ in their power, structure, and the markets in which they operate, but they can be effective, flexible tools for addressing vacancy and blight.
   

• Creative, temporary uses of vacant property can counter the negative effects of abandoned space and lead to an eventual permanent use.
   

• More research is needed to better understand what policy approaches are most appropriate based on conditions of vacant sites and their surrounding neighborhoods and communities.