Get on Board!

Vacant boarded up homes are eyesores within a community that invite vandals, vagrants as well as crime and other unwelcomed nuisances. Since this summer, Memphis’ urban core accounts for 6,000 to 7,000 unsecured vacant properties. Along with being homes to squatters and various illegal activities, over grown yards, missing windows, large pile s of debris and appliances strewn about the area not only lower property values; but usually these properties have a tendency to catch fire. During a summit last summer on foreclosures, the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center reported that fires in vacant properties cost the city $3.5 million in 2008 alone. The center also calculates that it only costs $600 to board up a vacant home as opposed to nearly $17, 500 spent for each fire. As a result, the cost of board- up has the potential to save the city $16,900 per prevented fire. Although it will not be a solution to the vacant abandon property crisis; efforts to increase board-up projects is one immediate remedy.

Currently, with the assistance of the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center, Mayor Wharton and various concerned civic leaders, such as attorney-at-law, Steve Barlow, political and grassroots actions are being taken in efforts to relieve communities of these problems. For example, Mayor Wharton marked his first year in office last October by filing 135 lawsuits against owners of blighted and neglected properties under the Neighborhood Preservation Act. Within this act property owners have to be cited for three or more separate violations of local building and construction codes and are fined for not having complied with specific building and construction codes or property standards within a one-year period. Another source of relieve is the Issues First-People’s Agenda, which is a campaign that seeks to reduce blight, increase affordable housing, reform code enforcements amongst other interests that promote a higher quality of life and public health.

Communities across the country that are battling the problems that arise from urban blight, such as Cleveland, Ohio, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, and Albany, New York are getting crafty. They are starting pilot projects to artistically board up vacant properties. Instead of tacking the usual unsightly drab plywood to vacant properties, residents and local community leaders are organizing teenagers and other community members to paint windows, doors, or murals on plywood in order to blend unattractive vacant houses into the neighborhood. These activities enact community engagement and in most cases it is a push for legislative changes that assist in the removal of trespassing issues that accompany community groups when they enter vacant properties to conduct board or clean-up efforts. These legislative changes are also for the purpose of filing liens against property owners for reimbursement of expenses to the community; as well as requiring vacant properties to be secured with painted (usually dark gray), well-fitted plywood of adequate thickness.

Artistic board-up projects are not only cost effective; but they also turn vacant homes that were once eyesores to the community into eye-candy for everyone to be proud of and enjoy. It promotes a community to feel like they are making a difference. Although it has not been proven that the artistic board-up projects stop break-ins or fires from happing completely; cities that have used them have reported that they do lower vandalism, increase the probability of sales, and help to beautify the neighborhood. While provisions for legislation in the city of Memphis could be tougher on neglected property owners, advocates like, attorney Steve Barlow are using the Neighborhood Preservation Act as a weapon to enforce property owners to clean up public nuisances. I believe that Memphis should get on board and adopt more artistic board-up efforts. Mixed with increased civic engagement vandals, vagrants, squatters, and neglectful property owners will finally get the message that community members are serious about keeping their neighborhoods safe, beautiful and free of derelict behavior.