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FiveNations54 t1_jbf4acd wrote

Reply to comment by dr_xenon in Small Town , Pennsylvania- Monessen , was passing through by toddnkaya1

There's a big push in Westmoreland now for code enforcement/blight remediation, so hopefully Monessen gets swept up in that.

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dr_xenon t1_jbf81rj wrote

It’s easy to say “just tear down all the old buildings”, but there’s a big expense in tearing it down and acquiring the property from the owner. Local government can’t just take your property. If the owners keep paying the taxes, you have to make a deal with them to keep it. Brownsville is the same way.

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Excelius t1_jbfj5xm wrote

There's established procedures for that kind of thing, the bigger problem is money. Demolition isn't cheap and a lot of small towns can't afford it without outside help.

Probably every couple of weeks you'll see a story in the Tribune Review about some town in Westmoreland County using state/county funds to tear down some blighted properties. It's very common.

Here's one from last week regarding Vandergrift. Here's one from Greensburg in December. Arnold tore down ten buildings last year, New Ken tore down a dozen in 2021 and another ten in 2020.

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