Friday, February 22, 2008

Abandoned homes in the U.S.

About 3.5 million or 1% of the population, or 10% of the poor are homeless in the United States in a given year, while at least 335,000 are homeless in any given week.

Yet, in Buffalo, New York, there are 17,000 abandoned homes,due in significant part to the mortgage crisis and economic downturn in the region.

In Providence, Rhode Island, there are over 700 abandoned homes, necessitating drastic action from the Mayor to financially help homeowners spruce up and rehabilitate these homes.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors predicts that 361 metropolitan areas will lose $166 billion in 2008. In the Rust Belt cities, the economic woes linger. Cuyahoga County, which Cleveland is part of, has roughly 17,000 vacant foreclosed properties. Baltimore has 16,000 foreclosed properties, an increase of 3,700 from the year 2000 figures of 12,300.

Along with abandoned homes are abandoned pets.

Some homeless people have noticed the trend and have acted. Anecdotal reports show that the homeless are taking over some of the abandoned homes.

The faltering U.S. economy is the top dinner debate. iTulip.com provides a contrarian and more in-depth assessment of the situation as well as a timeframe of the economic downturn.

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