What's Bad about Vacant Lots?

We collaborated with the Wall Street Journal on a news story about the consequences of land vacancy in American cities.

Vacant lots, or abandoned properties, can have negative impacts on communities, including:

Public health

Vacant lots can expose residents to toxins like mold, lead, and asbestos, which can increase the risk of asthma, cardiovascular disease, aggression, learning disabilities, and sexually transmitted diseases.

Crime and violence

Vacant lots can be a sign of neighborhood distress and can lead to higher rates of violent crime, including assaults and gun-related crimes. Residents may also feel less empowered to intervene in criminal activity if no apparent owner maintains the space.

Social fragmentation

Vacant lots can make residents feel isolated and weaken the community.

Property values

Vacant lots can bring down property values, leading to further abandonment.

However, vacant lots can also have positive impacts if they're transformed into green spaces, such as bike paths and greenways:

Mental health

Green spaces can improve mental health, especially for low-resource communities that don't already have much green space.

Transportation

Vacant lots can provide space for public transportation infrastructure, such as bus rapid transit lines and light rail stations.

Much public policy and revenue have been deployed to discourage land vacancy and put land back into productive use. Private ownership of vacant lots has clear downsides for a city. A straightforward way of addressing this problem is to direct the town's revenue needs away from productive uses like buildings and jobs. A fundamental way to accomplish this is to make the feckless landowner “pay for the privilege.”