Nearly 23,000 lots are vacant and tax-delinquent in Allegheny County, according to a new report issued this week, and those blighted parcels take a toll on the health and finances of nearby residents and property owners.
The report, from the Tri-COG Land Bank, estimates other properties near such dilapidated lots lose an average of $5,145 in value.
A host of research shows other harmful impacts from blight, such as links to crime and poor health outcomes.
“Blighted, vacant land is harmful in very many ways,” said An Lewis, Executive Director of Tri-COG Land Bank.
However, changes like “trash removal, proper grading, and landscaping” can mostly remove the negative impacts of problem properties and can increase surrounding property values up to 17%, according to the report, “Liabilities to Assets: A Comprehensive Strategy for Transforming Vacant Land.”
“It doesn’t have to be full-scale, expensive redevelopment,” said Lewis, emphasizing that improvements like grass cutting can make a big difference.
The Tri-COG Land Bank acquires vacant and tax-delinquent properties and returns them to productive use; its primary focus now is on properties with structures, though it does sometimes work with parcels that are empty lots.
The Land Bank covers many eastern and Mon Valley suburbs, such as Braddock Hills, Clairton, Dravosburg, East McKeesport, East Pittsburgh, Edgewood, Forest Hills, Glassport, McKeesport, North Braddock, North Versailles, Pitcairn, Port Vue, Rankin, Sharpsburg, Swissvale, Turtle Creek and White Oak, and some Allegheny River communities like Etna, Millvale and Blawnox. The communities in the Tri-COG Land Bank’s service area are disproportionately impacted by vacant and blighted parcels. (It is separate from Pittsburgh’s Land Bank, which has struggled for years to operate effectively or transact properties.)
According to the report, the economics of acquiring these empty parcels in what are typically “weak and middle real estate markets” make it difficult to acquire, clear title, and rehab such lots at a large scale. The Land Bank “cannot address the financial challenges without additional outside funding support and organizational partners. Because most abandoned vacant land parcels are in distressed market areas, the value of the land is much lower than the cost to acquire and clear title, much less to invest in redevelopment and make a vacant land program self-sustaining,” according to a report summary.
Among the solutions the report explores: ramping up the existing Side Lot program, which allows neighbors to purchase vacant lots; establishing a “Mow to Own” program, where residents would maintain the lot to work towards ownership of it; and using vacant properties for improved stormwater management systems or neighborhood gardens.
