Allowing the City of Huntington to Tackle Blight

According to an article in last Sunday's edition of the New York Times, a study last summer by the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit group in Durham, NC, living near a foreclosed home knocks an average $8,667 off the value of a property, and abandoned homes contribute to an increase in violent crime.

It is good that the City of Huntington is in the process of identifying owners whose properties are in a state of disrepair, abandoned or dilapidated. The West Virginia Legislature has armed Huntington with measures to hold owners responsible for the condition of their property. It is well pass time to resolve the issue of our deteriorating housing stock.