Trenton Times published the following article on June 30, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
Editorial: Effort by Isles to inventory Trenton’s vacant, dilapidated houses provides starting point for progress
By Matt Dowling/Times of Trenton
on June 30, 2014 at 6:05 AM, updated June 30, 2014 at 6:21 AMAs part of its decades of service to Trenton, Isles Inc. has launched an effort to conduct an inventory of abandoned and dilapidated housing.
With funding from Isles, volunteers with the Trenton Neighborhood Restoration Campaign are going block by block to identify the status of each property in the city.
Canvassing the city 1,000 parcels at a time, the volunteers are cataloging the status of each property, categorizing them as occupied, vacant, park, parking lot and so on. They note other details, such as the building’s condition, whether it’s under construction or if “for sale” or “for rent” signs visible, as The Times’ Jenna Pizzi reported last week.
Coordinated by project manager Iana Dikidjieva, the work is expected to continue through mid-August.
A database of this information will be invaluable to a city struggling with a contagion of forsaken properties. The blight shadows even the most well-kept properties, dragging down real estate values and the spirits of neighbors powerless to halt the approaching squalor.