A State Based Gentrification Proposal To Change Cities

We cannot leave the cities to die under incompetents

Submitted by Gentrification Vet

Cities are too important to watch die from mismanagement. Whatever is destroying them will eventually seep into suburbs and rural areas. It is also impossible considering their current lock under Democrats, often the most woke, to properly manage what assets they have. We can look at the success of gentrification, and apply some state level policies to fix these problem cities.

I promised the Sun to not ramble in a sprawling essay like last time I wrote on gentrification. In many cities across the country, abandoned homes sit vacant, becoming eyesores and magnets for crime, dragging down property values and draining local resources. This is blight. Simultaneously, there are individuals and families in need of affordable housing, struggling to find affordable homes. To address this issue, a policy could be implemented to transfer abandoned homes in default of property taxes to citizens via a lottery system. This state level proposal (we cannot trust the cities or counties) aims to not only address the blight of abandoned properties but also provide opportunities for citizens to achieve homeownership.

Abandoned homes are a significant problem in many communities, posing numerous challenges for local governments and residents alike. These properties often fall into disrepair, becoming havens for criminal activity, lowering property values for neighboring homes, and placing a strain on local resources for maintenance and enforcement. We have to face facts, they contribute to the cycle of urban decay and disinvestment, perpetuating poverty and blight in already struggling neighborhoods. These areas are being gentrified because they were destroyed by dysfunction for decades crashing their market value low enough for others to take high risk-high reward investment flyers on. These should not be struggling neighborhoods due to their location in proximity to major economic zones. These neighborhoods do undergo gentrification, but there is the issue of scale. If neighborhoods are taken over one home or one private project at a time, it can take a decade or two to see change. We need a mechanism to create rapid churn.

Under this proposed policy, abandoned homes that are in default of property taxes would be identified by local governments and eligible for transfer to citizens through a lottery system. This is similar to using the land bank auction that some cities use, but not designed towards investors. We want to help people directly. We can use a centralized power to bypass the middleman merchants and large developers to help the little guy. The process would involve several steps.

The assets need to be collected for distribution by the city or county. Local governments would identify abandoned properties that have been delinquent on property taxes for a specified period, typically several years. All counties have this list. These properties would undergo evaluation to determine their suitability for occupancy and rehabilitation. Many rundown areas are pockmarked with homes currently occupied but surrounded by empty lots and abandoned, wrecked homes. These type of blocs would be transformed in one fell swoop.

The lottery participants need to be screened. To participate in the lottery, individuals and families would need to meet certain eligibility criteria, such as no criminal record, maybe a minimum employment requirements, and a commitment to X amount of years of owner-occupancy and bringing a property up to code. For the empty lots, this is easier as it involves new construction. The city would also have to participate with regional banks for construction lending. This would be a slam dunk as these properties would have massive upside and be great collateral.

Once the eligible pool of applicants has been established, a lottery drawing would be conducted to determine the recipients of the abandoned homes. The lottery process would be transparent and conducted in a fair and impartial manner to ensure equal opportunity for all participants. This can be online. We can have multiple ways to distribute, with entrants selecting neighborhoods they target, maybe a process of first pick gets first choice and so on, however it is handled, it has to be transparent.

The selected recipients would be provided with ownership rights to the abandoned properties, subject to clearly stipulated conditions and restrictions. They would be responsible for rehabilitating the properties to meet minimum codes. To help them in rehabilitation, offering a tax abatement for X years would help. To ensure compliance with the terms of the transfer, recipients would be subject to monitoring and oversight by state authorities. Failure to meet the obligations of ownership, such as maintaining the property or paying property taxes, could result in forfeiture of the home and reassignment through the lottery process. I keep focusing on state authorities because we should have no faith in municipalities to execute on this in a smooth manner. Corruption is always a concern, but the corruption in these cities is off the charts.

This would be a win. It is such a win, we know no one would ever consider it. By transferring abandoned properties to responsible homeowners, the policy helps address the blight of abandoned homes and improve the aesthetics and safety of neighborhoods. The policy provides an opportunity for citizens who may otherwise be unable to afford homeownership to acquire a home at little to no cost. This has a populist angle because in 2023 over 40% of new homes were purchased by investors. The investor class would be excluded from this lottery program. Left or right wing does not matter. People want to have a slice of the American Dream and not in tiny houses.

While the proposed policy offers promising solutions to the problem of abandoned homes, there are several challenges. The program has to clear the woke hurdle and any accusations of racism, homophobia, etc. A state handling of this would be able to pull in entrants and adjust the scales to pacify the city officials. Effective monitoring and oversight mechanisms are needed to ensure that lottery recipients fulfill their obligations as homeowners and maintain the properties in accordance with local regulations. Once again, having a separate state official with an enforcement team should be an improvement over say the Baltimore or St. Louis municipal officials. Regular inspections and reporting requirements can help prevent abuse and ensure compliance especially with the gift of ownership and a multiyear tax abatement.

It is not perfect, but a policy to transfer abandoned homes via a lottery system offers a promising approach to addressing the blight of abandoned properties and providing affordable housing opportunities. It is far more promising than the ominous flood of millions of third world immigrants into cities of abandoned properties as the left becomes pro-squatting rights. This proposal uses city assets to change not just the future tax revenue situation but the make-up of prime real estate that lies unused or destroyed in a pro-civilization manner. Gentrification is a curse word to some, so this type of program side-steps accusations of the slow death of the ol’ hood. It’s a lottery. With this set up, it’s a lottery where everyone wins.