Quote Originally Posted by Lowell View Post
I witness properties owned by people with immense wealth ... that sit as blighted rotting, unsecured public safety hazards, some for decades.

Focusing solely on business properties, I ask the forum how does this happen?
I'm certainly no expert but I get the impression the speculators are essentially threatening to hold their future tax dollars hostage in return for the ransom of lax code enforcement that allows them to play the game they play.

From today's Detroit News: Taxpayers own 50K properties in Detroit
As the city's population has declined by half since 1950 to about 900,000, more than 39,000 parcels have fallen into the city's control — far more than any single landowner and more than eight times the tally of the largest 10 landowners combined.

Another 10,300 parcels are owned by the state or federal government, meaning that roughly 12 percent of all parcels in the city are publicly owned....

Detroit is believed to have more taxpayer-owned land than any other city in the United States, and the parcels produce no taxes, cost money to maintain and are often blighted themselves....

Land reverts to the city if it isn't sold at tax foreclosure auctions. In 2009, the city took ownership of 7,928 parcels, more than double the 3,648 it acquired in 2008. Through November 2010, the city had taken control of 6,847 parcels.
So could it be that the city dare not offend the speculators for fear of losing even more of the tax revenue stream?