20% of Detroit homes are in some state of disrepair and as Bloomberg reports [4], a much-anticipated report from the city’s Blight Removal Task Force says [5] that about half of these should be torn down immediately. Despite Detroit home prices still rising exuberantly in March [6], over 40,000 structures in the bankrupt city need to be immediately destroyed and a further 44,000 demand attention. The cost of this demolition - about $800 million - which the task force hopes will come from the government.
One of the question haunting Detroit, as it works to extricate itself from bankruptcy, is how to address the reality of the city’s shrinking population. Abandoned and blighted structures across the city are the residual reminders of the decade’s long slide. Today, a much-anticipated report [5] from the city’s Blight Removal Task Force says that more than one in five structures is in some state of disrepair—and that about half of these should be torn down immediately.
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They found 84,641 structures and vacant lots that demand attention. About half—40,077 structures—should be torn down immediately, the group says, and the rest need further evaluation and attention.
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It can take as little as three hours to demolish a house, but the process can be more consuming if properties contain asbestos or lead, thereby requiring extra care. Tearing down homes by the tens of thousands, which hasn’t been done before, could cost about $800 million, the report says.
The Keynesian circle is complete - government subsidized mortgages enabled everyone to own a home no matter how unaffordable and now taxpayer funds will subsidize the demolition of that American Dream. Money well spent... (must be time to build some more homes and demolish them)