01/20/2026
I’ve heard so many people in town say that we need to just start demoing buildings. That’s an easy thing to say, but much harder to do. What if we could save a lot of these buildings and get them back up to code and in the hands of people who will actually take care of them?
In the hustle and bustle we sometimes forget to celebrate our wins. I am pleased to say that the city has finally partnered with a company that has already started doing some code enforcement work on some of our vacant buildings.
This is one of the first but most important steps to saving our housing stock for future generations. Thank you to the commissioners for seeing the need and taking a chance on something new.
This is a long process and progress can be slow but we hope to see some quick wins in the future.
Your town spent $100,000 to demolish a building and $0 enforcing codes on the other 50 buildings falling apart.
Make it make sense.
Every year I watch cities pay a fortune to tear down “blighted” buildings. Meanwhile, they completely ignore the code violations that created the blight in the first place.
It’s like watching someone with a cavity refuse to brush their teeth, then pay thousands for a root canal, then still refuse to brush.
Demolition is not a strategy. It’s a surrender.
Code enforcement is boring. It’s not sexy. There’s no ribbon cutting. No press release. No way for a politician to take credit.
But it works.
Every building that falls apart does so slowly. First a broken window. Then some peeling paint. Then a sagging roofline. Then it’s “blighted” and needs to be demolished.
At every single stage, code enforcement could have stopped it.
But enforcement requires having standards. It requires telling property owners “no, that’s not acceptable here.”
Most cities would rather pay for demolition than have an uncomfortable conversation.
How many buildings has your town torn down that could have been saved?
