Re-Stitching the Urban Fabric: Municipal-Driven Rehabilitation of Vacant and Abandoned Buildings in Ohio's Rust Belt

Abstract

Current demographic trends indicate a renewed interest in urban living, as climate change, high gas prices, and the tedium of suburban sprawl have compelled both young and old alike to seek out more modest living accommodations, walkable neighborhoods, and community connections. Despite this positive shift—a shift that is stimulating the revitalization of economically distressed urban neighborhoods—many former industrial cities continue to struggle with vacant, abandoned, and otherwise blighted properties. These neglected properties threaten the health and safety of the community, hinder economic development, and generate high financial and psychological costs for municipalities. In the worst of circumstances, the aged building stock is left to deteriorate to the point of nuisance and eventual demolition. The vacant lots left in the wake of the demise further plunge the neighborhood into a distressed state. In the best of circumstances, developers push for the removal of blighted structures to pave the way for new construction--a system that results in the loss of significant historic buildings, community identity and character, and, in many cases, affordable housing and small business opportunities (i.e., gentrification). Municipalities use vacant building registries, hazard abatement programs, public nuisance law, condemnation procedures, land banks, and other local ordinances in their attempts to remedy the vacant and abandoned building problem. However, existing legislation encourages demolition, and the hurdles of implementing and enforcing building codes have weakened their effectiveness. This Note proposes that municipalities have the authority to proactively manage vacant and abandoned historic properties and promote economic development and community stabilization by rehabilitating these properties. Part I provides a history of urban decline, from deindustrialization and middle-class suburban migration to federally subsidized urban renewal programs; discusses the economic, cultural, and social impacts of urban divestment; and focuses on how urban blight frustrates revitalization efforts and threatens historic buildings. Part II examines how Cincinnati—a historic rust belt city in Southwestern Ohio—is managing its growing vacant and abandoned building stock. This Part addresses both substantive legislation and the procedures implementing and enforcing that legislation and analyzes the effectiveness of the city’s actions. Part III assesses the legal challenges the city may face in adopting more expansive legislation, particularly focusing on the limits of a municipality’s authority under state enabling legislation and the substantive and procedural due process and equal protection guarantees of the United States Constitution. This Part also recommends more extensive legislation that Cincinnati, and other cities, can implement to more proactively and aggressively manage its vacant and abandoned building stock and drive rehabilitation and revitalization efforts.