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Stephen James
F L I N T O I D
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Facts that elude the mentality of those whose whining voices echo across the quiet waters of Spring Grove!
There seems to be a great deal of confusion and misinformation circulating about land banks. The primary purpose of Michigan’s land bank legislation is to prevent tax-foreclosed property from being auctioned to speculators. Perhaps you have seen the midnight TV advertisements that have promoted “flipping” real estate. Buy low sell high and make a bundle. In truth, many of these speculators find they didn’t get the bargain they had hoped for, and they walk away from the property – often property they have never seen. They then let the property go through the tax foreclosure cycle once again, a process that takes years. Michigan’s Land Bank Enabling Legislation, passed in 2004, allows land banks to manage these abandoned properties and withhold them from speculators.
Of the 83 counties in Michigan, 32 have established land banks. These include even relatively well-off counties like Grand Traverse and Leelanau. Abandoned property that is left unattended can start a contagion of other abandonment. Abandoned structures frequently become sites for drug use and prostitution or are occupied by squatters who vandalize the structure.
Some people on the County Board are asking what the cost of operating a land bank might be. Put another way, they should ask what is the cost to County taxpayers if it does not have a mechanism for managing its tax-foreclosed property. Abandoned property is a blighting influence on a community, and it is a blight that spreads. One abandoned house left unoccupied and ready to be vandalized is one too many. Assertions that the Genesee County Land Bank (GCLB) is in “a whole lot of trouble” are simply untrue. The GCLB operates seven programs that include, tax foreclosure prevention, housing renovation, property maintenance and even demolition. (For a full accounting of these programs go to the GCLB web site www.thelandbank.org). The money to support these programs comes from many sources including the ability of the Treasurer’s office to use income from interest on unpaid taxes. The land bank can also sell tax-foreclosed property at market rates rather than being obligated to sell delinquent property for back taxes as previous Michigan law provided. With proper leadership and support, a Washtenaw County Land Bank could become a self-sufficient operation saving taxpayers thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars in declining property values caused by abandonment. Michigan passed enabling legislation eight years ago that is now considered a national model. Washtenaw County should take advantage of this opportunity.
Robert M. Beckley
Professor and Dean Emeritus, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning |
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Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:48 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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It has been pointed out before that you are marrying into the Kildee family, so one can assume this is your effort to defend Dan Kildee and his operation of the Land Bank.
1. The Land bank refuses to sell some vacnt lots to side lot owners in the north end of Flint-no reason given
2. The Treasurers office puts huge blocks of properties up for auction each year. last year they had a significant number of properties in the historic Civic Park area included in the auction.
3. The sheer number of vacant lots and homes are astronomical and continuing to grow. People are leaving because of the violence and lack of jobs. As more vacant houses are vandalized the property values in once stable neighborhoods decline.
4. Investors are still buying in Flint. Non-profits, and even the Land Bank, with renovated houses cannot sell them. Some of these houses have been on the market for over a year with no buyers in sight.
5. The metal strippers and other vandals are getting bolder and houses are all over the north end with no windows and gutted out.
6. Homes assessed at 50 to 60 thousand are being sold for $5-10 thousand in so-called development areas.
7. local speculators are scouring neighborhoods looking for bargains. Road to Freedom is renting many homes to provide housing for recently released prisoners and have decided to target a development area. Needless to say, the development will not occur if the saturation of this area continues.
POLITICO: Flint an 'epicenter of the Great Recession'
Published: Monday, July 19, 2010, 11:00 AM Updated: Monday, July 19, 2010, 3:50 PM
Kristin Longley | Flint Journal
FLINT, Michigan — Once again, Flint is being used as a poster child of the nationwide recession.
While Flint and other U.S. cities are struggling, Washington D.C. is booming, according to a story posted today on Politico.com.
With a double-digit unemployment rate and a rapidly declining population, Flint is one of a handful of cities compared in the story to Washington and its relatively healthy job market.
The story quotes Flint Mayor Dayne Walling:
"'The unemployment rate in Flint today is as high as it was when my grandfather graduated from Flint Central High School in 1935,' Flint Mayor Dayne Walling told POLITICO. Walling pleaded for something few in Washington are willing to do in this political climate: jack up government spending right now.
'I understand that the federal government has a large, long-standing structural problem with its spending, and that needs to be addressed,' he said. 'But the middle of an economic crisis is not the time for that conversation.'"
The story goes on to compare Flint's unemployment claims to Washington's:
"During 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more than 11,000 initial claimants for unemployment insurance associated with extended mass layoff events in the Flint metropolitan area and less than half that number for the D.C. metro area — a region that includes the District itself and the wealthy, highly educated counties of Northern Virginia and southwest Maryland.
It’s a sobering reminder of the District’s distance from the epicenters of the Great Recession."
Politico isn't the first news organization to use Flint as an example of the recession's effects on post-industrial cities.
Dozens of journalists, from the Los Angeles Times to The New York Times and several places in between, have visited or wrote about about Flint in recent years. |
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Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:14 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Last month we had a reporter doing an article for the Washington Post at our block club meeting. Interesting guy. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:36 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Read some of the Land bank plans, including Spring Grove
Planning
... Riverbank Park improvements, Hamilton Dam replacement, and Flint River trail ... The Land Bank commissioned Andrea Urbial Goldner to provide a set of .... Downtown Flint, Michigan is entering into a new period of renewal and growth. ...
http://www.thelandbank.org/planning.asp - 27k - Cached - Similar pages |
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Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:11 am |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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The concept of a Land Bank is AWESOME! It just needs to be used properly. It is a great tool to redevelop places like Flint Michigan USA
quote:
Stephen James schreef:
Facts that elude the mentality of those whose whining voices echo across the quiet waters of Spring Grove!
There seems to be a great deal of confusion and misinformation circulating about land banks. The primary purpose of Michigan’s land bank legislation is to prevent tax-foreclosed property from being auctioned to speculators. Perhaps you have seen the midnight TV advertisements that have promoted “flipping” real estate. Buy low sell high and make a bundle. In truth, many of these speculators find they didn’t get the bargain they had hoped for, and they walk away from the property – often property they have never seen. They then let the property go through the tax foreclosure cycle once again, a process that takes years. Michigan’s Land Bank Enabling Legislation, passed in 2004, allows land banks to manage these abandoned properties and withhold them from speculators.
Of the 83 counties in Michigan, 32 have established land banks. These include even relatively well-off counties like Grand Traverse and Leelanau. Abandoned property that is left unattended can start a contagion of other abandonment. Abandoned structures frequently become sites for drug use and prostitution or are occupied by squatters who vandalize the structure.
Some people on the County Board are asking what the cost of operating a land bank might be. Put another way, they should ask what is the cost to County taxpayers if it does not have a mechanism for managing its tax-foreclosed property. Abandoned property is a blighting influence on a community, and it is a blight that spreads. One abandoned house left unoccupied and ready to be vandalized is one too many. Assertions that the Genesee County Land Bank (GCLB) is in “a whole lot of trouble” are simply untrue. The GCLB operates seven programs that include, tax foreclosure prevention, housing renovation, property maintenance and even demolition. (For a full accounting of these programs go to the GCLB web site www.thelandbank.org). The money to support these programs comes from many sources including the ability of the Treasurer’s office to use income from interest on unpaid taxes. The land bank can also sell tax-foreclosed property at market rates rather than being obligated to sell delinquent property for back taxes as previous Michigan law provided. With proper leadership and support, a Washtenaw County Land Bank could become a self-sufficient operation saving taxpayers thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars in declining property values caused by abandonment. Michigan passed enabling legislation eight years ago that is now considered a national model. Washtenaw County should take advantage of this opportunity.
Robert M. Beckley
Professor and Dean Emeritus, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:09 am |
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Domet
F L I N T O I D
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Hey Dave, do you remember who that reporter was? Gordon Young does a lot of writing about flint including the recent
recent write up
of Dan Kildee on Slate with a
follow up
on the blog he runs (Flint Expatriates). Last I knew he was taking up a long-term project to write a book about there area, and he also has written for the New York Times and the Flint Journal (he freelances).
If it was not Gordon Young, I was just curious who out there is writing about our dear city - perhaps you remember his name or perhaps are aware of his deadline? |
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Lack of support for your assertions does not make you a sage, it just makes the rest of us doubt your reasoning skills. - Elias12, Flint Talk Poster |
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Fri Jul 23, 2010 1:48 pm |
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Stephen James
F L I N T O I D
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[quote="untanglingwebs"]It has been pointed out before that you are marrying into the Kildee family, so one can assume this is your effort to defend Dan Kildee and his operation of the Land Bank.
First off; Dan Kildee doesn’t run the Land Bank as suggested by your statement. He runs “The Center for Community Progress’ a nation-wide policy and practice center based in Washington, DC and Flint, Michigan. Doug Weiland is director of Genesee County Land Bank that works in conjunction with Genesee County, the state of Michigan and the City of Flint.
Secondly and most pointedly:
In response to the allegations that I have some kind of personal connection to the Land Bank program due to being part of the “Good ole Boy, Kildee network” (as the donsupporter and you so endlessly and childishly point out) all due to my soon to be marriage to Dan Kildee’s sister. (See, I disclose all the facts and even my name. Plus; Crap, I’ve just moved here 9 months ago, no one works a good ole boy network that fast!)
So again, I find that I have to defend myself as a citizen/voter who sees the logical, good that comes out of Genesee Land Bank and the Land Bank model.
In your trying to connect my thoughts and ideas as being lockstep with someone else’s you are revealing that you can’t reasonably defend your position therefore, you’ve chose to attack the messenger (Me) and in doing so, infringed on my personal 1st amendment rights. There is a form of government that does just that, but it’s one that I don’t think you would want be associated with.
So, for now on I will respond to all Land Bank comments by appealing to those that partake in reading such comments with this:
Don’t be taken in by political rhetoric about the Land Bank model by those with a political agenda, an ax to grind or by what they think the Land Bank is or should do, learn the facts yourself and make your decision. I will no longer try and defend item by item to ad nauseum the countless impractical and uninformed questions and responses. Instead I will defend my position with some of the brightest minds in the country via; Harvard University, Mott Foundation, USA Today, Ford Foundations, the hundreds of counties in America that have adopted the Land Bank model and etc. etc…..
If the Nick Singlis’ of Flint really know the intricacies of this issue better than the folks who have spent their lives studying urban development, then they should be subject to all our praise and adoration, if they do not, then they need to be revealed as being fools.
I’ve done your homework for you:
The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government today announced the Genesee County Land Bank as the winner of the 2007….. Genesee County Land Bank Honored as Innovations in American Government Award Winner. http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-regional-local/5281121-1.html
Land Banks as Revitalization Tools:
http://www.geneseeinstitute.org/downloads/Revitalization_Tools.pdf
The Land Bank and it’s Benefit to Tax Payers
http://tinyurl.com/2dl3ynj
USA Today: Land banks gain popularity as way to fight urban blight
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-07-09-landbanks_N.htm
Foreclosure crisis builds national interest in Michigan’s tax foreclosure, land bank model
http://www.mott.org/news/news/2010/CCP2.aspx
Ford Foundation Invests in Metropolitan Areas
http://dirt.asla.org/2010/05/26/ford-foundation-invests-in-metropolitan-areas/
Griswold, Nigel and Patricia E. Norris. (2007). Economic Impacts of ResidentialProperty Abandonment and the Genesee County Land Bank in Flint, Michigan: An Urban
http://www.geneseeinstitute.org/downloads/LPI_Genesee.pdf
Revitalization Report. The Michigan State University Land Policy Institute. East Lansing,Michigan.
http://tinyurl.com/2dl4sth
Teaford, Jon C. (1994). Cities of the Heartland: The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Midwest.Indiana University Press. Bloomington.
http://www.landpolicy.msu.edu/modules.php?name=Pages&sp_id=129
U.S. Census (1990). 1990 Census of Population and Housing: Population and Housing Unit Counts, United States. Accessed March 7, 2007 at
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cph2/cph-2-1-1.pdf
U.S. Census (2007). Cumulative Estimates of Population Change for Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Rankings: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 (CBSA-EST2006-07). Accessed April 13,
2007 at http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/CBSA-est2006-pop-chg.html.
P.S. Will you be coming to the wedding, August 14th? If not, I’ll understand that you don’t want to be seen in a building owned and created by those “Capitalist” of Uptown Development. Yours, Stephen James
Last edited by Stephen James on Sun Jul 25, 2010 5:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Sat Jul 24, 2010 6:30 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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"Look Nick, I mean untanglingwebs,"
This is funny as Nick removed me from his friend list on facebook! |
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Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:20 pm |
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Stephen James
F L I N T O I D
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[quote="untanglingwebs"]"Look Nick, I mean untanglingwebs,"
This is funny as Nick removed me from his friend list on facebook![/quote]
My bad. I was just fishing, but comment stays the same. |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 5:42 pm |
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Detroiter
F L I N T O I D
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I know Nick, seems very immature for his age. Seems to think he can easily become politically important if he stays around Flint. From what I can tell he is a real life troll, looking for a handout like most other Flint politicians.
As for Untangling webs you can be assured he is not A. Nick Singelis or Ryan Eashoo as this poster sounds more intellegent and is better spoken than either one of them. |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 10:34 pm |
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FlintCityMole
F L I N T O I D
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Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:04 pm |
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FlintCityMole
F L I N T O I D
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Rumor has it Untanglingwebs is Ryan Easho
quote:
Detroiter schreef:
I know Nick, seems very immature for his age. Seems to think he can easily become politically important if he stays around Flint. From what I can tell he is a real life troll, looking for a handout like most other Flint politicians.
As for Untangling webs you can be assured he is not A. Nick Singelis or Ryan Eashoo as this poster sounds more intellegent and is better spoken than either one of them.
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Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:06 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Mole- at one time some thought Mole was either greg Eason or Donna Poplar trying to backstab Eason. Rumors can be a funny thing.
Have you ever noticed in the media reports the feds always say " i will neither confirm nor deny" . That way they don't get caught in a guessing game trap. |
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Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:00 pm |
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