Detroit program for purchasing $200 parcels of land expands

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Fifth Third Bank is now sponsoring the expansion of the program into the North End neighborhood, between Woodward Avenue, I-75, Grand Boulevard and Arden Park.

"We're going to take control of our city neighborhood by neighborhood," Mayor Dave Bing said today in announcing the expansion.

Bing highlighted the program after months of talks over the sale of 1,500 vacant east-side parcels to Hantz Woodlands brought forward many residents who complained of difficulty working with the city to purchase abandoned lots beside their homes.

The White Picket Fence program appears to have solved that problem at least in the Southwest Detroit neighborhoods it covered, with about 100 lots sold, and officials hope it will do the same in the North End area, where there are about 300 vacant lots.

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http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in..._river_default

I don't get why this isn't being done citywide

Honestly, this is easily one of the best programs Detroit has going for it to address it's vacant land issues, and it barely made the news. The article says why it isn't being done city-wide: they don't have enough money to pay for enough employees to process it if applied city-wide. It's be awesome if they could find some grant money to do this city-wide for a year or two.

I mean, this allows for neighbors to take control of their neighborhoods and take care of these lots...and if they don't, at least the city knows where to find the owners. At the moment, you've got absentee landlords the city can't even track down for taxes, let alone for blight violations. I'd like to see this program given more press and push harder.

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Originally Posted by Dexlin

The article says why it isn't being done city-wide: they don't have enough money to pay for enough employees to process it if applied city-wide. It's be awesome if they could find some grant money to do this city-wide for a year or two.

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Perhaps that's where Fifth Third's sponsorship comes in. This is an excellent vehicle for a corporation to generate some goodwill with their customers and neighbors.

Meh, I bet there's some catch. Like, you can't build on it, or you've just adopted it. Anyway, why the hell can't people like Mark Covington get a reasonable offer from the city on the lots he's already put under cultivation? Why can't some church leaders get their phone calls returned or their plans reviewed? Nice little program, maybe. What if I want to build on the lot next door? Any allowance for that?