Louise Thompson, a member of SUN’s Southside Coalition, led off a
parade of neighborhood residents telling city
officials their stories, mostly horror stories, about living around
vacant houses. For over a half hour, resident after
resident spoke about the problems their families confront in the face
of vacant and abandoned buildings.
On Louise’s short block, almost half of the houses have become
vacant. Across our neighborhoods gangs stash
drugs in the overgrowth and under the siding of the houses. Trash
and debris is mysteriously dumped late at night.
Loiterers blast loud music, fight, cause property damage and urinate
on adjoining houses. Homeowners find it hard
to get insurance and see their home’s value decline.
The meeting last night focused attention on the worst of the houses,
the vacants that are beyond saving and need to
be demolished. SUN will host a second meeting on May 29th at 7 PM at
Most Holy Rosary church to discuss how the
city can encourage both non-profits and private investors to
rehabilitate vacant houses and increase owner-occupancy
in our neighborhoods.
