Baltimore’s Next Challenge: Vacant Properties (2013)

The article examines Baltimore’s persistent problem with thousands of vacant and abandoned properties that continue to blight neighborhoods and hinder economic recovery. It highlights how past and current city efforts—including initiatives like Vacants to Value launched to accelerate redevelopment and rehabilitation—have yielded mixed results, with uneven progress across different communities and ongoing challenges in financing, ownership, and revitalization. The piece frames vacant properties as a critical hurdle for the city’s future growth and livability.