#URBAN BLIGHT DEFINITION CODE#
While blight can be harder to identify and quantify in rural communities that are more geographically spread out and might have less code enforcement and zoning capabilities, the state has recognized the problem of rural blight by making grants available specifically to smaller, rural communities to remediate blight. To give some perspective, the city’s total Fiscal Year 2020 governmental funds revenues were $16.5 million.Īdrian is an example of a small city struggling with blight, but it is a rural problem as well. The Blight Elimination Initiative Committee recently shared a goal of investing $10 million over 10 years to fully eradicate blighted properties from the small city. The City of Adrian, which has a population of just over 20,000 and is located in rural Lenawee County, also struggles with blight management and prevention.
#URBAN BLIGHT DEFINITION UPDATE#
The city is working to update those numbers to identify what resources are currently needed to address blight. A 2015 report identified over 19,000 properties in need of blight elimination in the city at a cost of more than $107 million. A 2019 survey of 507 Detroiters conducted by University of Michigan’s Detroit Metro Area Communities Study found that nearly three-quarters of residents report blighted properties in their neighborhoods and more than half report some blight removal activities in their neighborhood in the last five years.ĭetroit is joined in its struggle to manage and prevent blight by other big cities, including Flint. A 2014 Bridge Michigan article estimated that more than 84,600 Detroit properties were blighted at that time, constituting more than one in five parcels citywide. All are issues contributing to, and sustaining, blighted properties. The City has struggled for years with declining population, property over-assessments, tax foreclosures, and controversies around its land bank and multi-million dollar demolition program. It can be a challenging balancing act for the government.īlight is often associated with Michigan’s biggest city, Detroit. However, an overly broad definition of blight can give too much discretion to municipalities. Since blight can be locally subjective, the conditions that constitute blight are broadly construed to permit a municipality to make an early identification of problems and to take quick remedial action to correct a demonstrated pattern of deterioration and to prevent worsening of blight conditions. Blight is a stage of depreciation rather than an objective condition, which means that blight is created over time through neglect or damaging actions. It is somewhat subjective and difficult to quantify because it may be observable at different stages of severity.
While state law defines a blighted area as a developed or undeveloped business or residential property marked by a demonstrated pattern of deterioration in physical, economic, or social conditions, blight is a localized issue that affects both urban and rural areas. I have recently begun researching the problem of blight in Michigan and it is a complex issue. Some communities are trying to actively rid themselves of blighted properties while others are using economic development tools to prevent blight. Blight remediation and prevention is ongoing.
Also, many of the communities that struggle with blight are more fiscally challenged so finding the revenue to address blight can be a major issue. State law provides some tools for local governments to remediate blight, but they need to be flexible enough to meet unique local needs.Blight is a problem in communities throughout Michigan, but it is a complex issue that can be difficult to quantify and address as it is locally subjective and experienced differently in urban and rural communities.
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