Syracuse tackles vacant houses

219 Grace Street, Syracuse NY

I would love to see what Syracuse looked liked 100 years ago. I picture rows of beautiful victorian houses facing tree lined streets. Their owners had good jobs, and kept them up - they took pride in what they worked so hard to achieve. How times have changed.

Today, city opertaions director Tom Carroll said there are around 1200 vacant houses in Syracuse - about 2% of the city's housing stock. So many beautiful old homes that are rotting away. Their windows are smashed, roofs leak, and their floors sag. Many have had their copper pipes stolen and sold for scrap, while others have been partially burned out and boarded up.

They pose problems to the whole neighborhood. Not only are they eyesores, they become the center of illegal activity. They are used for gangs, drugs, prostitution, and other things. Tearing them down doesn't do much either. Empty lots also invite criminals, and are an equal blight on the urban landscape.

I hope the city's plan to start selling these properties for a dollar to developers, along with a 7 year tax break and up to a $45,000 grant per house, can start to reverse the trend of urban decay. Progress is already being made with single family homes with the help of the non-profit Home HeadQuarters, Inc.

It is important that these historic building be saved whenever possible. They add a character to a neighborhood that cannot be replaced. There are 11 houses that the city showed to developers today. The one I was at, 219 Grace St. , is nextdoor to a new build by Habitat for Humanity. While this is a great program, their houses do not fit the character of the niehgborhood. They are not the right size, only a single story, and are not placed well on the the land. They have no character. The wreck nextdoor, while falling apart, has character and charm. As houses like these disappear, so too does the personality of the neighborhood.

We are lucky, in a way, that we can start fighting the problem of vacant housing now before it is completely out of control. In Buffalo, Carroll says there are around 15,000 vacant homes - 20% of that city's housing stock. That city has one of the highest vacancy rates in the nation. Probably why it was named one of the top ten fastest dying cities in the US. Here in Syracuse, things could be a lot worse.