WestSeattleBlog.com has a detailed summary of last Friday afternoon's tour of abandoned houses in the North Delridge neighborhood here. This tour highlighted a significant problem that impacts neighborhoods throughout the city.
This photo shows Councilmember Sally Clark and me at the doorway of a house that was trashed; garbage, furniture, papers, and household items were piled everywhere, some of it several feet deep.
This type of abandoned house is a public nuisance and a real risk for children and others in the neighborhood. As the economy struggles we may find more and more of these houses abandoned, ransacked, and left open to squatters and others who are sometimes engaged in criminal activity, such as burglary and theft.
Councilmember Clark and I will be proposing some legislative fixes later this month.