Called a "desperate measure," Cleveland is leveling vacant homes to revive neighborhoods. In this report from PBS NewsHour, find out how the city is clearing blight to make way for other uses.
The foreclosure crisis hit Cleveland hard and early, leaving many abandoned homes that became targets for theft and crime. Decrepit eyesores, the homes - once symbols of hard work and the American dream of homeownership - marked neighborhoods with the stigma of poverty, neglect and hopelessness.
Cleveland has more than 13,000 vacant homes. Each home costs thousands of dollars to raze, but demolition is still less expensive than returning a home to livable condition. In the current housing market, there's no guarantee rehabbed houses would sell, and the specter of foreclosure would still loom. In neighborhoods where half of the houses on any given block are abandoned, the best bet seems to be breaking the cycle.
Many argue that what the city needs is not new homes, but fewer homes. Do you agree? Do you think razing vacant homes is the right course of action?
WATCH: Raze the Roof from PBS NewsHour
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