SECTION ONE

Define and Document the Region’s

Vacant Property Impacts and Obstacles
Supplemental information and more detailed research are necessary to achieve a
thorough understanding of the complexities of the region’s vacant-property problems and
to ensure that limited resources effectively address the underlying causes. People sense
that abandonment is getting worse, but they need information to document its scope,
impacts, and social costs. Policy makers could also benefit from further legal and policy
analysis about the barriers that prevent practical solutions from being adopted and
effectively implemented.

Broad policy and programmatic assessments such as this cannot realistically answer all of
the important policy questions within such a short period of time. Throughout this
assessment process, the team has identified information gaps and critical questions that
demand more fact-finding and analysis. The team has also identified the need for
additional research about the costs and the causes underlying the region’s vacant-property
problem, the impacts of the problem, and the existing resources and programs that public
agencies and nonprofit entities currently deploy to address these impacts. By creating an
inventory or balance sheet of impacts and assets, the region’s policy makers should be
better equipped to shift available resources to the right place. Here is a sample of some
of the outstanding gaps in information regarding such impacts and assets:

Impacts
• No comprehensive, accurate inventory of the vacant properties and abandoned
buildings currently exists within the city of Dayton, Montgomery County, or its core
communities.1
• The social costs of abandonment and vacancy within the Miami Valley region have
not been estimated. The assessment report found studies from other jurisdictions that
can provide policy makers with a general idea of these costs, but local data are needed
about the costs (both direct and indirect) from the region’s core communities.
• The issues of mortgage foreclosures and bankruptcies demand further investigation,
because prevention of both can reduce future abandonment. Various entities keep
statistics, but there is no central process for collecting the information and then
performing the critical analysis that is necessary to an understanding of the different

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 phases of foreclosure, the ways in which predatory lending contributes to foreclosures
and bankruptcies, and the ways in which both proceedings contribute to causes of
vacancy and abandonment.2
• Different strategies for addressing housing deterioration and abandonment must be
designed for rental and owner-occupied properties. As the region considers various
vacant-property strategies, such as rental inspection and registration ordinances, it
would be important to understand what percentage of housing-code violations is
attributable to property rentals (single- and multifamily) and what percentage belongs
to owner-occupied homes. Information on the rates of home ownership and rentals
throughout the region would also be critical to the shaping of vacant-property
strategies.
Assets and Resources
• Strategic allocation of public and nonprofit resources. Local governments and
nonprofit organizations administer a diverse portfolio of community and economic
development programs (e.g., CDBG, HOME, Weed & Seed, and Brownfields grants)
within their respective jurisdictions. Nonprofit organizations, businesses, and
foundations also receive funds to work on problems that are related to vacant
properties. However, no single source inventories these programs and then maps the
funding allocations throughout the region.
• Possible sources of funding and financing to support the region’s vacant-
property blueprint. Throughout the assessment report, the team mentioned possible
funding vehicles for expanding or enhancing the effectiveness of existing vacant-
property strategies. With the exception of the land bank, the team’s policy
recommendations generally focus on leveraging existing resources, staff, and
programs. The team also noted a potentially large demand for new rehabilitation
resources given the region’s aging housing stock (single-family homes and duplexes)
and the reliance of local governments and nonprofit organizations on CDBG and
other federal funds. Creative analysis of alternative funding sources is needed in order
to tackle the wide range of vacant-property challenges, such as slumlords, the
rehabilitation of single-family homes, and the acquisition and reclamation of
abandoned properties.3

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POLICY RECOMMENDATION: Inventory all existing housing, planning, social
service, and community and economic development resources, grants, programs,
and projects.

POLICY RECOMMENDATION: Design a GIS map of the level and location of all
public and nonprofit investments throughout the Miami Valley (with special
emphasis on Dayton and the core communities).

• ACTION ITEM: Local universities and/or the MVRPC, working closely with
the region’s local governments, nonprofits, and business organizations, could
inventory existing programs.
• ACTION ITEM: Collect data for the past five years (perhaps include data from
proposed FY 2006 budgets) on all public and nonprofit expenditures for relevant
community and economic development, housing, and planning programs and
policies that have some connection to vacant properties and abandonment
(ranging from HOME funds to code-enforcement resources).
• ACTION ITEM: Create a GIS map that overlays all of these resources and
programs to determine the location of existing priority communities and projects.
• ACTION ITEM: Using the data from this inventory and mapping exercise,
develop policy goals for addressing the problems associated with vacant
properties and abandonment.
• ACTION ITEM: Develop performance measures (e.g., the number of reclaimed
vacant properties and the number of first-time home buyers) to track
improvements.

POLICY RECOMMENDATION: Research and analyze further the causes and the
social and economic costs of abandonment and vacancy, especially the role played
by predatory lending, mortgage foreclosures, and personal bankruptcies.

POLICY RECOMMENDATION: Research abandonment and its relationship with

the regional economy and financial markets.

POLICY RECOMMENDATION: Research further the legal and policy barriers

that prevent implementation of the policy solutions proposed in the NVPC
assessment report.

• ACTION ITEM: Local universities and/or the MVRPC working closely with
local governments, nonprofits, and business organizations could search for
relevant studies, coordinate necessary data collection, and conduct the analysis.
• ACTION ITEM: Experts from the NVPC, working closely with its host advisory
committee, could conduct supplement research on the policy and legal barriers for
any of the recommendations set forth in this preliminary assessment report.

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National Vacant Properties Campaign
1
City of Dayton’s Housing Inspection Department performs annual windshield surveys of the building
conditions throughout the city for residential and commercial properties. Of the approximately 58,000
structures in the city, in January 2005 they noted 2,747 “hard core” buildings that had been abandoned for
six months or more, were mostly boarded up, and likely needed demolition.
2
University of Dayton and Policy Matters Ohio have done preliminary research about the general extent of
foreclosures and predatory lending. However, this research does not address whether or not foreclosure led
to vacancy or abandonment of the property.
3
Consider a wider variety of development incentives, such as tax increment financing and tax abatements,
under the appropriate circumstances.

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National Vacant Properties Campaign