Abandoned Properties

Plagued by foreclosures, DeKalb County Georgia is buying up properties and creating a land bank in hopes of spurring redevelopment.

Community groups in Philadelphia are trying to remake blighted vacant properties into community gardens and neighborhood amenities.

Device Magazine features photos of places with deserted technology like the former Soviet nuclear submarine base in Balaklava, Ukraine and a ship graveyard in Lisbon, Portugal.

A new study suggests that Philadelphia's 40,000 vacant buildings reduce home values by as much as $8,000 and cost the city $20 million per year in maintenance.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the city has begun covering the broken windows and doors of abandoned homes with plywood painted to look like functioning doors and windows as part of a program to fight blight.

Abandoned and foreclosed properties are plaguing many cities. Now some are trying to turn the blight into prosperity by creating land banks to hold, remodel or demolish the properties -- and pull in some revenue while they're at it.