In a marked achievement for urban renewal, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan reported significant progress in the city's long-standing battle against residential blight. The Mayor's office revealed startling advancements in their efforts to diminish this persistent issue, with a measly count of fewer than 1,000 abandoned properties remaining under the Detroit Land Bank's control—a striking drop from the once staggering 47,000 derelict homes. This new development signals a potential end to a noticeable period of urban blight that has long afflicted Detroit's metropolitan canvas, according to the City of Detroit.
According to the Mayor's final report, a robust 27,000 houses have been demolished, whereas another 19,000 were sold off to families intending to refurbish them. The current state of affairs leaves just 942 houses in the Land Bank's possession, of which 240 are earmarked for demolition, and 702 are being primed for sale. Nonetheless, Duggan emphasized the continuing challenge of privately-owned abandoned houses even as the city prepares to close out Proposal N within the coming year.
Paralleling the physical restructuring of Detroit's neighborhoods is an economic resurgence for its longstanding residents. A study from the University of Michigan earlier this year highlighted that Detroit homeowners have collectively gained a whopping $4.6 billion in home wealth since 2014, a testament to the extensive appreciation across the metropolis. "Homeowners who stayed in Detroit and never left were the ones who gained the most wealth," Duggan told attendees at the announcement.
The two-pronged strategy the city employed involved federal dollars through the Hardest Hit Fund, and later the voter-approved Proposal N bond. The Hardest Hit Fund, spanning from 2014 to 2020, leveraged $265 million in demolitions and revitalized nearly 9,000 homes. Proposal N, enacted thereafter and costing $250 million, surprisingly exceeded its target by not only demolishing over 8,000 buildings but also enhancing more than 10,000 dwellings with sales and renovations, according to the City of Detroit.
The closing procedures of Proposal N come with an environmental prong, as the city takes on the task of resolving issues of soil contamination left in the wake of the demolition efforts. Mayor Duggan outlined steps to deal with potentially contaminated soil, including testing each site and holding responsible contractors accountable for the costs incurred through contamination. So far, the city has intervened at multiple sites to replace unacceptable backfill with clean soil, specifically in instances involving Iron Horse, a company with backfill that tested high for contaminants. Detroit's actions include barring Iron Horse as a backfill source and requiring them to reimburse the remediation expenses.
As the city pushes towards a clean and transparent resolution, $15 million has been set aside as part of the Proposal N Closeout fund, ensuring that these environmental safety actions won't negatively impact Detroit's fiscal health. This systematic approach, underscored by Mayor Duggan's statement to continue rigorous testing and removal of contaminated fill, aims to cement the positive trajectory for Detroit's residential landscape—a hopeful stride towards a brighter, more vibrant urban existence, as per the City of Detroit.
