Citizens for Appropriate Transportation (CAT)
Eisenhower
Transportation Corridor
NEIGHBORHOOD
DISINVESTMENT
We have a problem along
the Eisenhower Corridor that needs to be addressed
soon. The stories described here are
real, but the names are not. Every
person lives within one block of the Ike.
The stories are about homeowners, but business owners tell similar stories.
Kathy and her husband want
to spend almost $100,000 to improve their house. She worries whether this is a good investment
because of the uncertainty about expanding the Ike. Kathy sees her house as a good place to raise
a family and then provide for a comfortable retirement.
Debbie says: “My house
needs a lot of work, but I am only going to do the work that is absolutely
necessary until I know the future size of the Ike.”
Bob called to ask if he
should buy a condo on Harrison. Although I cannot tell him yes or no, I told
him about the state’s plans and the status of the Phase 1 Engineering –
Environmental Study.
Dan and his wife Joan live
half a block north of the Ike. In his
e-mail, Day says he is “very concerned about the possibility of the expansion
shortening the distance between our house and the highway, and lowering the
value of our house. I have no faith in
the state being concerned for our interests at all.”
We know that the condition of our aging housing stock is affected by the hundreds of
individual decisions that we all make about how to maintain and improve our
houses. The stories suggest that
some people are postponing rehabilitation work.
Disinvestment is hard to
correct once it starts. We are looking
at the potential of lower demand for houses along the Ike, less rehabilitation
work, a slower growth rate in property taxes, and less capital appreciation in
housing values.
We
better deal with this problem
before it gets out of hand. It will take
a lot of us to remedy the problem.
Rick Kuner – May 2002