What to do with vacant buildings

[Toronado3800]

All Boarded UP - NY Times Magazine Article

This problem is just now hitting the Caucasian Suburbs in St. Louis. I imagine its worse out win the boom and bust west and south.

Besides controlling how fast homes can be built and fining banks any ideas how to solve the problem? A few boarded up houses on a street really lower property values.

My first thought is when someone petitions the government to change zoning for a plot of land is changed from "farm" or low density residential to standard residential or commercial then a bond should be taken out which is enough to pay estimated demolition cost for the property xx years from now.

Seems like a punitive tax, then again it would also slow urban sprawl.

 

[Toronado3800]

Perhaps an option for judges to use an escalating scale for "municipal ordinances offenses"?

Something like "the first time your grass gets to be a foot tall we give you a notice, the second time we mow it and charge you $100, the third time we charge you $500, fourth, $2,000"

Then banks might abandon their abandoned properties, sell them off, or the city could at least turn them back into grass.