307 karma · joined November 4, 2016
Regarding the notion of 'high risk' neighborhoods. See above point - risk is proportional to occupancy. Occupied structure, reduced risk. Rental unit with fallow periods - high risk.
The elephant in the room here is also Race. Race does not correlate to risk or a 'High risk neighborhood' - this notion is perhaps the most insidious and hardest for Capital to overcome - if it ever will be - in which case these supposed 'High Risk Neighborhoods' or 'Bad Apples' will always be labelled as such and avoided. (Incidentally I see this paradigm shift - to be the core argument of the article - albeit approached obliquely)
Regarding neighboring houses - A street in Detroit, if it can go in a downward spiral, typically already has, the city is currently in the process of demolishing blighted structures, and a property owner has a reasonable expectation that if a nearby house has-gone or goes 'galley-west' the city will take it down and offer the lot to neighboring property owners or list it for-sale on the website linked in the original comment.
The taxes correlate to the assessed value of a property, these are slightly unpredictable. However, the city is reassessing property values this year, working under the supposition that realistic valuations that people can actually pay are a better approach. Basically - I agree, lack of confidence in tax-rates is a bad thing, and it's a good thing the city is working to deal with this.
The average cost of rehabbing a home bought for $1000~$2000 say is $50,000. Have a look at the website:
http://www.buildingdetroit.org/
The 'Rehabbed and Ready' (http://auctions.buildingdetroit.org/RehabbedAndReady) homes demonstrate the transformation from a $1000 to a $50000 property.
To my eyes this approach closely matches the 10% target described in the article, and seems to be a smart way to build a tax base.
Here Clausewitz is mentioned in the opening paragraph of Debord's autobiography 'Panegyric':
http://debordiana.chez.com/english/panegyric.htm
and:
"The world of war presents at least the advantage of not leaving room for the silly chapter of optimism".
Also worth considering: http://www.paglen.com/?l=work&s=symbology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farm-Fresh_user_cook...
I wonder if that image has had many visitors ...