Leaders meet to decrease vacant homes in the metro

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Kansas City has an unfortunate history of decaying neighborhoods, and the foreclosure crisis has only made it worse.

Now the Local Initiatives Support Corporation is bringing people together to try and solve the problem.

Vacant properties can lead to increased crime, lower property values and other problems, which makes them more than just an eye sore for neighbors.

Joe Schilling with the Metropolitan Institute says empty homes need to be taken seriously. With a little work, struggling neighborhoods can be turned into sustainable communities.

In order to decrease vacant properties and increase neighborhood quality, code enforcement needs to improve across the metro.

Doug Leeper is a nationally recognized expert on code enforcement, and he believes the problem can be solved at the local level. “A lot of code enforcement has to do with folks just not understanding or knowing what is required,” Leeper said.

Tackling problem properties requires cooperation between multiple groups, and LISC brings groups together to get the proper dialogue going.

But Leeper says the important fact to remember is that there is no quick fix. It took decades for the number of vacant homes in KC to reach 7,000, so it only makes sense that any solution won’t fix the problem overnight.