Cities Seek Ways to Fight Growing Housing Blight

"Do cities have tourniquets that can be used to stop the subprime mortgage bleeding?

They like to think so, but the answer appears to be no. Instead, cities are increasingly focused on two things: First, increased code enforcement to make sure that abandoned houses and neighborhoods aren't rundown. And second, finding a silver lining in the dark cloud by helping first-time homebuyers purchase repossessed houses.

That, at least, was the take-home message from the Regional Housing Summit in Riverside last week, put together by the Southern California Association of Governments."