[ghosthost]

"..in the hope that, one day, developers will see vacant lots as a land of opportunity."

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Not as much as a liberal Dem city government will see them as the land of opportunity to extract fees from anyone foolish enough to build on them.

[Ken H]

Don’t forget to install smoke alarms.

[gunsequalfreedom]

It is a good move. Public funds well spent. Seriously.

[JohnBrowdie]

old buildings aren’t the biggest problems in baltimore. unless you can also demolish the crime rate, the poverty rate, the teen pregnancy rate, and the illiteracy rate, you won’t accomplish very much.

the place will look a little less cluttered, but it will still be a hell hole.

[Dilbert San Diego]

But I thought liberals are against gentrification. If their plans succeed, then a higher class of people will move in, and existing ghetto residents will be forced out.

[Steely Tom]

CVS can build the biggest drugstore in the world.

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

Neglected properties to be replaced and filled with the same people who neglected them.

[boycott]

So we tear down the homes of the ghetto dwellers and build new homes for ghetto dwellers? Sounds reasonable.

[Cobra64]

Who the hell would invest a dime in that city when these animals destroy everything in sight as they did last April 28th, 2015

[Charles Martel]

Meanwhile, residents of eastern New Orleans are still whining that no new commercial development has occurred in that area, since the Katrina debris was cleared. News flash: the area was demographically down the tubes well before the storm surge hit. Crime was through the roof, retailers had pretty much already closed their doors. It was a sea of payday loan shops and furniture rental vendors - and not much else. Just like Baltimore.

[Clint N. Suhks]

How much does a block cost?

I may buy one for my grandchildren to turn into junk yard.

[wideminded]

Urban renewal

Apparently this works sometimes but sometimes just leaves big areas of nothing that don't get redeveloped or ends up becoming something uglier after displacing tens of thousands of people.

[castlebrew]

“...in the hope that, one day, developers will see vacant lots as a land of opportunity.”

Hope - sounds like a perfect business plan to me!

[lurk]

Good for them to tear down the unoccupied places.

Bad that taxpayer dollars paid for it.

The unintended consequence is that urban improvement chases out the poor urban families.

[Jonty30]

I know I wouldn’t move to Baltimore any time soon.

[Axenolith]

I envy all the detectorists that get to pound that virgin ground!!!

[RayChuang88]

The big problem with Baltimore is that the city is effectively run differently from the rest of the state of Maryland. Small wonder why when white flight occurred after the riots of the 1960's, the city has never recovered and is now essentially the Detroit of the East Coast.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

You could stick a giant open-air drug market and illegal weapons bazaar on all that vacant land. Yes, that will do it!

Maryland “Freak State” PING!

[Blue Jays]

One advantage to turning blocks, and blocks, and blocks of dilapidated houses to grassy parkland is that it doesn't need streets, sidewalks, sewer lines, lighting, paving, plowing, patrolling, or similar ongoing city services.

Level it, spread soil, and let grass and trees eventually takeover.

[Salamander]

I’m humming a certain 5FDP song.

Can you guess what it is?