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A Chance to Own a Home for $1 in a City on the Ropes (No, not Detroit)
New York Times ^ | 08/14/2013 | STEVEN YACCINO

Posted on 08/15/2013 8:05:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

GARY, Ind. — As a tower of black smoke rose above this blighted city last week, a group of neighbors huddled across the street from a burning house, trying to guess which other vacant properties on their block would be arsonists’ next target.

“There’s so many,” said Tasha McMiller, 50, a resident dismayed by the estimated 10,000 abandoned homes here. “They’re a burden.”

Officials say that a third of the houses in Gary are unoccupied, hollowed dwellings spread across a city that, like other former industrial powerhouses, has lost more than half its population in the last half-century.

While some of those homes will be demolished, Gary is exploring a more affordable way to lift its haggard tax base and reduce the excess of empty structures: sell them for $1.

The program, announced in June, will offer Gary residents a chance to pay less for a house than for their morning coffee, as long as they meet a minimum income threshold (starting at $35,250 for one person) and demonstrate the financial ability to bring the neglected property up to code within six months. Those selected would have to live in the home for five years before receiving full ownership.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Indiana
KEYWORDS: gary; indiana
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21 posted on 08/15/2013 8:23:06 AM PDT by RedMDer (http://www.dontfundobamacare.com/)
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To: ScottinVA

It’s fascinating really. If someone can guarantee a safe TOUR of these sections of Gary and Detroit for historical and educational purposes, I’d go and have a visit.

It’ll be like touring the ruins of Greece and Rome.


22 posted on 08/15/2013 8:24:09 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: 3Fingas

Agreed.


23 posted on 08/15/2013 8:24:24 AM PDT by Goreknowshowtocheat
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To: SeekAndFind

Gary Indiana and Detroit were once great places to live, but not anymore. The blight was caused by failed liberal policies and a collapse of morals. My libertarian friends can grasp the first point, but the second point eludes them.
A community’s health depends on both qualities. A city can be successful for a time without morals, but sooner or later a deficiency in morals will destroy economic success.


24 posted on 08/15/2013 8:26:14 AM PDT by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: SeekAndFind
It’ll be like touring the ruins of Greece and Rome.

I totally agree. I can't help but have a fascination about seeing the evidence of long-term liberal policies that, regardless of their destructive results, are tried again countless times. Ask a liberal why places like Gary and Detroit are so blighted, their response would be, "racism" and "inequality of resources."

25 posted on 08/15/2013 8:31:27 AM PDT by ScottinVA (If you don't care about Antonio Santiago, sure as hell don't whine about Trayvon Martin.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

I took a wrong turn driving through Chicago once and ended up in Scary 15 years ago.

I felt like Chevy Chase in a famous vacation scene.


26 posted on 08/15/2013 8:34:48 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad & lived with his parents most his life.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The Paradise of the Steelworkers Union, USW.


27 posted on 08/15/2013 8:36:03 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: ScottinVA
Some of those pics make Beneath the Planet of the Apes look like an optimistic assessment of the future.
28 posted on 08/15/2013 8:37:05 AM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: SeekAndFind

That doesn’t even look like a place where the Boys on American Pickers would do a little freestyling...


29 posted on 08/15/2013 8:38:21 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (They can follow the Communist, I'll follow the Constitution...)
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To: SeekAndFind

Buy them and flip them.


30 posted on 08/15/2013 8:41:30 AM PDT by hummingbird (THE LIBERTY AMENDMENTS by Mark Levin. He's got a great plan!)
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To: hummingbird

Who wants to buy them?


31 posted on 08/15/2013 8:49:37 AM PDT by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: hummingbird
Yeah, my first thought would be "Buy 10 or 20 blocks worth, demo everything, then rebuild with something halfway decent."

Then, I thought "It would still be in Gary, Indiana. I could try as hard as I want, but I couldn't polish that particular turd."

32 posted on 08/15/2013 8:51:39 AM PDT by wbill
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To: 3Fingas

Gary (Lake County) went for Barry in ‘08 (and ‘12). A couple of holder’s people in Lake County were convicted of voter fraud (fraudulent registrations) from the ‘08 election.

The reality is, Gary is just an extension of south Chicago.


33 posted on 08/15/2013 8:52:25 AM PDT by PhiloBedo (You gotta roll with the punches and get with what's real.)
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To: 3Fingas

The unions were the biggest economic factor. They murder commerce.


34 posted on 08/15/2013 9:06:20 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (The only people in the world who fear Obama are American citizens. KILL THE BILL!)
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To: wbill


The Jacksons' childhood home in Gary, Indiana surrounded by gifts, flowers, and stuffed animals after Michael Jackson's death. I wonder if this property is for sale...
35 posted on 08/15/2013 9:06:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
Could be....

I never understood the point to leaving stuffed animals here and there when someone dies.

"My favorite celebrity just died. Let me go to a house that he used to live in - but doesn't anymore - and leave a toy there."

Some people just need to get their screws tightened a couple of turns.

36 posted on 08/15/2013 9:13:10 AM PDT by wbill
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To: tcrlaf

Slate named Gary, Indiana to be the” 2nd Most Liberal City in America!” (Behind #1 Detroit)

The liberal media morons should be FORCED to live in these liberal paradises they helped create, instead of the Mostly-white gated communities, with armed guards, that they hide behind now.

Imagine Tina Brown or Piers Morgan forced to live at Chicago and Woodward, in Detroit?

yes the liberal media and other democrats did create these hell holes like gary indiana, detroit etc. the whole country will be worse than that once they get amnesty passed = one party democrat rule country wide


37 posted on 08/15/2013 9:20:19 AM PDT by Democrat_media (IRS rigged election for Obama and democrats by shutting down tea party)
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To: SeekAndFind
sell them for $1.

You could not give those homes away. Its not the condition of the homes, or the streets, or the sidewalks, or the buildings that make Gary or Detroit such a hellhole, its the 3rd World people that populate the area and the fact that those 3rd World people are fully protected by the armed might of the Federal leviathan so you can't force them to behave or force them out. Gary, Indiana is literally foreign territory.

38 posted on 08/15/2013 9:39:21 AM PDT by Count of Monte Fisto
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To: ScottinVA
minimum income threshold (starting at $35,250 for one person

That's rather steep. We wouldn't meet the income level but I'd pass anyway. I'm betting the taxes aren't based on the $1 purchase price and they have to pay off the previously owed taxes.

39 posted on 08/15/2013 10:09:44 AM PDT by bgill (This reply was mined before it was posted.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Back when MJ was a black dude.


40 posted on 08/15/2013 10:13:09 AM PDT by bgill (This reply was mined before it was posted.)
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