Covering Up What's Covered Up

22 June 2004 - 6:00am

Baltimore entrepreneur proposes photo treatment for boarded-up vacant houses.

" Although every other dwelling on the street's west side is obviously vacant with windows and doors covered by plywood, the block's east side appears fully occupied because every home's windows and doors seemingly are intact. They are the pictures of urban stability. But upon second glance, in the cases of some homes on the east side of Asquith, that is all those windows and doors are - pictures.

Eight of the boarded-up homes project an illusion of occupancy thanks to life-sized photographs of windows and doors glued to the plywood by an entrepreneur who hopes to affix the faux finishes citywide...

However, the photographic images of windows and doors are meant to achieve something more, Coleman said - to 'let neighbors feel like they live in a neighborhood that's not as decayed as it is.'"

(Note: NYC did this in the 1970s with apartment buildings in the South Bronx)

Source: The Baltimore Sun, June 12, 2004
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The decision to abandon a property is a symptom of the loss of confidence. And while abandonment certainly affects confidence among surrounding homeowners, the most important question to answer is not "how do we deal with abandoned properties?" but "what is the most cost-effective way to restore market confidence, and how do abandoned properties fit into that picture?"