National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 5 * March 15, 1999

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Workshop touts tools for fixing old neighborhoods

By Mary Ann Barton
senior staff writer

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Thomas Laurin, director, Department of Economic and Community Development, San Bernardino County, Calif., discusses revitalizing old neighborhoods at a workshop on the topic Feb. 28.

A report about a man who lived without heat in a slumlord’s "bargain rate" apartment jump-started a county program to improve rundown neighborhoods.

Elizabeth Davidson, director of Housing and Community Affairs for Montgomery County Md. says the story got her county’s Neighborhoods Alive! Program moving when The Washington Post reported on a slumlord who had broken "hundreds and hundreds" of local housing laws – including not providing heat for seven years to an apartment.

"We thought, ‘We’d better find out how many other buildings are like this,’ " said Davidson, who spoke on how to revitalize old neighborhoods to a Legislative Conference workshop audience Feb. 28.

The goals of the Montgomery County program are to:

• improve quality of homes
• reduce crime and civic tensions
• improve neighborhood appearance
• stabilize real estate values
• improve sense of community, and
• improve health and family stability.

How did they do it?
A combination of persistence in looking for code violations, beautifying the areas with flowers and playgrounds, and working with police to clean up crime were some of the key points of the program, Davidson said.

"We assigned six inspectors…we gave them a beat to drive through," she said. "They looked for old sofas outside, trash, things like that."

In addition to looking for code violations, officials also planted flowers and built a new playground.

"We worked closely with the police too," Davidson noted. They cleaned up a neighborhood where houses were being used for dealing drugs. One inspector waited in the bushes at 2 a.m. with police on a drug stakeout, watching kids with walkie-talkies keeping an eye out for a bust.

In an ironic twist, it was discovered that the owner of the house, which was overrun with trash and rats, worked for HUD, Davidson said. "We condemned it. The inspector got a standing ovation from the citizens for shutting it down. The house has now been fixed up."

Targeting neighborhoods
The county targets neighborhoods that are older and have low- to moderate-income households, high rental of single family homes, extensive code complaints, deteriorated infrastructure and an active and interested civic organization.

Davidson said offering programs that encourage pride in home ownership, leading to a revitalized neighborhood, works better than trying to find absentee landlords who have let properties decline. "The stick doesn’t work with investors," she said. "We got death threats."
The county helps residents buy homes by offering a countywide closing costs assistance program, since "Maryland has high closing costs." The county also offers rehab loans of $15,000 to $30,000 with a 0 to 3 percent interest rate, depending on income level. The county also has a neighborhood design center, with standard architectural drawings available for adding an extra bathroom or addition to a home.

Under the state’s new smart growth program, the county has $5 million in mortgage money to offer, with an interest rate of 4 percent.

(For more information, contact Davidson at 301/217-3600; similar programs were presented at the workshop by Thomas Laurin, director, Department of Economic and Community Development, San Bernardino County, Calif. and Joseph Sanseverino, director, Community Development Department, Suffolk County, N.Y. Laurin can be contacted at 909/388-0808. Sanseverino is at 516/853-5705.)