Residential Abandonment: Its Early Stages of Development

Sandra Featherman

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DOI: 10.2190/XQLK-N2KJ-N7M9-5J75

Abstract

Residential housing abandonment begins not as a result of a single cause such as neighborhood racial transition, or intentional underinvestment by absentee landlords, but rather as the result of a confluence of events, including amongst them a slowed down market in the area, an inexperienced or unwilling landlord, a less marketable property than the average in the area, and serious vandalization of the property during a period in which it is vacant. It is the act of vandalism, and the owner's fear of revandalization, which leads to the withdrawal of maintenance from such a property.

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