ST. LOUIS — Did you know there are more than 7,000 vacant buildings in the city of St. Louis? Nearly 6,000 of the structures are considered in poor enough condition that the city says they should be torn down.
Many people are fed up with living near the dangerous, ugly, crime-attracting places. So, 5 On Your Side asked the man in charge of tearing down the nuisances how the city plans to fix this decades-old problem.
Dozens of the abandoned buildings can be found in the Walnut Park East neighborhood in north St. Louis. The area looks like many others across the city. Nice-looking homes stand beside long-abandoned shells of what they once were.
St. Louis Building Commissioner Frank Oswald said empty, often crumbling buildings sit that way for an average of seven years.
“Does that bother you?” asked 5 On Your Side.
“Absolutely, yes,” said Oswald.
It's a problem he says started with previous city leaders.
“It certainly was not overnight. Obviously, when it comes to budget time they try to cut stuff that hurts the least at the moment. And I think that's what's happened on the vacant building front.”
Oswald admits earlier attempts to fix the problem were hit-and-miss in some of the city’s most affected areas, like Walnut Park East.
“These folks have been putting up with some real problematic buildings,” said Oswald.
This year, Mayor Lyda Krewson set a demolition budget of nearly $4 million. And the city’s new strategy for identifying the worst properties could lead to as many as 1,000 buildings per year being torn down.
“There was a lot of background work that had to go into getting to the point where we could have more data-driven solutions to demolition,” said St. Louis Development Corporation Program Manager Laura Ginn. “And we piece it all together and we can start to see Is it condemned? How many times has it been boarded up? How many times has forestry come out an removed illegal dumping? And so, we can start to prioritize out structures that way.”
That strategy is already at work. A home in the Walnut Park East neighborhood will be torn down Tuesday and at least six more on the block will follow.
“We're trying to spend as much and fast as possible, so we can get as big an impact for our community as we can,” said Oswald.
5 On Your Side has heard from many people who say they’ve complained to the city about vacant homes and didn't get a response. Oswald says the best way to get the ball rolling is to first talk with your neighborhood stabilization officer and your alderman.
This week the city launched a new website to track vacant homes in your neighborhood.
