The level of blight in New Orleans dropped over the last year, at a time when efforts to reduce blight in many other cities was stagnant at best. There are 8,000 fewer blighted houses in New Orleans, says Allison Plyer, co-director of the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center.
"That dropped us by about three percent, so that's really significant," said Plyer.
Greater New Orleans Community Data Center co-director Allison Plyer:
Plyer says it comes at a time when cities like Detroit, Baltimore and Pittsburgh had no reduction in blight, and Washington D.C. experienced a slight increase in the rate of blight. But Plyer points out that New Orleans has a much higher rate of blighted houses, and that the community has its work cut out for it.
"That's going to be a really, really long battle. What we need more than anything is more people" to come in, fix up and live in the areas homes to eliminate blight, said Plyer.
Click here to view the information from the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center web site.
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