Detroit will board up 11,000 blighted homes in two years

Mayor Mike Duggan announced a brand new initiative this Thursday, called “Board Up Brigades.” This new plan calls for boarding up 11,000 blighted homes over the next two years.

Approximately 4,000 of the houses that were included were based on requests from neighborhood block clubs. With this initiative, 10 city and contracted crews will board up 100 to 200 houses per week.

In a press conference, Duggan said, "We've got 25,000 more abandoned houses in this city, and at the rate we're going, it's going to take five years to get them occupied or get them demolished."

MLive reported that approximately 20 percent of the vacant houses in Detroit are salvageable.

This project is expected to cost approximately $4.8 million with funds coming from general funds designated for blight removal, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.

According to Detroit Free Press, 12,000 Detroit homes have been demolished, and 3,000 have been rehabbed since January 2014.

• Detroit reveals plan to board up 11,000 vacant homes in two years [Detroit Free Press]

• Detroit launches program to board-up 11,000 blighted homes [MLive]

• City kicks off mission to board up 11,000 blighted houses [Crain’s Detroit Business]