New Orleans' Winning Strategy in the War on Blight

A city with one of the nation’s worst blight problems is now considered a national leader in reducing vacant and dilapidated properties.

Few urban problems are more insidious than blight. Vacant or dilapidated properties suppress property values, threaten public safety, chase away investment and hurt quality of life.

Blight was a challenge for New Orleans even before Hurricane Katrina flooded nearly 80 percent of the city's housing stock in 2005. By 2010, New Orleans had perhaps the country's worst blight problem, affecting an estimated 43,755 properties -- nearly one-quarter of the city's residential addresses.

So it might be something of a surprise that the city now is considered a national model for blight reduction. What might be even more surprising is how that turnaround has been accomplished in little more than three years.

More