It’s amazing to consider that the Graduate Hospital neighborhood had over five-hundred vacant and/or blighted properties within its borders just fifteen years ago. Walking around the neighborhood today, you can go several blocks before stumbling upon such a structure, with the vast majority having been demolished and redeveloped or rehabbed in the last decade. We’d guess that only a couple dozen remain, and that number continues to shrink as the days roll by.

Two blighted homes that have bugged us for years can be found on the southwest corner of 17th & Montrose, immediately adjacent to the proposed Carpenter Green park that we told you about just a few days ago. And today we have some good news-
these two homes will apparently be no more in the very near future.

The homes

From the south, with the future park in the foreground

Over the past week or so, workers have been on the site, preparing for the demolition of the two properties which have been a blighting influence on this corner for as long as we can remember. This is particularly unfortunate, as the EM Stanton School stands directly across the street. The corner property is owned by Michael Jackson (not the guy who sang Billy Jean, we promise), according to public record, and has a lengthy list of violations and over $13K in back taxes owed. Regarding the adjacent property, it may be privately owned with over $20K in taxes owed, or it may be owned by the Redevelopment Authority. Public record and Trend tell different stories.

Either way, we’re guessing that the City has determined the properties to be a public nuisance and too dangerous to remain in such a dilapidated state. As such, the City will level the homes, leaving them as vacant lots for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, the lots will someday either be redeveloped into nice new homes, or be integrated into a future green space to the south. How bout a dog park on these two parcels? No doubt, it would be a huge improvement over what we have today.