More on the improvement of housing quality in New Albany.

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
-- Michael O’Brien

Yesterday we glanced at a half-dozen positive developments in New Albany, then adjourned to La Rosita’s for a Sunday afternoon feast:

From beer, facades and stained glass to Scribner Place and Gloria Allred, good news is breaking out in New Albany.

Today, the news gets even better, as the Courier-Journal devotes much appreciated column inches to one of the great no-brainers of our era:

History for sale: Old New Albany properties offer modern appeal, by Chris Poynter (The Courier-Journal).

"We want people who will take care of these buildings and cherish them," said Greg Sekula, director of the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.

Sekula, along with historic preservation advocates and neighborhood leaders, have launched a Web site -- www.historicnewalbany.com -- that boasts of their city's architectural gems. The city hopes to attract buyers from Louisville and elsewhere who are looking for a bargain.

Meanwhile, NA Confidential will be in attendance tomorrow morning at the weekly meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety. In light of City Hall’s recent efforts to gauge the extent of New Albany’s housing problems, many of which centers on seemingly endless decades of ordinance and building code non-enforcement, we’ll ask the board about the status of the house at 1018 E. Spring, which has been under the newly aroused enforcement looking glass, and whose owner is supposed to be incurring fines as we write.

Is he?

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Ted Fulmore has been considering the many housing improvement threads on New Albany’s blogs, and he has compiled this brainstorming list of housing quality topics and solutions at the S. Ellen Jones Forum. We’re reprinting in its entirety; you are encouraged to discuss here at NA Confidential.

Goal - To Improve Housing Quality in New Albany, by Ted Fulmore.

There have been wonderful threads recently in the blog world brainstorming on the issue of housing quality in New Albany.

I’ve taken the liberty of stating a Goal:

To Improve the Quality of Housing in New Albany

Below are key bullet points I’ve taken from those threads. I invite everyone to add to this list. There are items below that are doable and some are even in progress.

Housing Quality Brainstorming:

Consistent enforcement of City building codes/ordinances

Rental Inspection Ordinance – with consistent enforcement

Newspaper (Tribune/Courier) to devote space to exposing the most egregious offenders by publishing photos and public records.

Local Non-Profits, Neighborhood Associations, and residents partnering with New Directions Housing Corp. Repair Affair program

Comprehensive inventory of buildings (once a year?) carried out by Neighborhood Associations – (purpose to measure trends/progress)

Listing homes for sale (or going to sheriff’s sale) on http://www.historicnewalbany.com/

Additional funding for rehabs from the City’s CDBG allotment

CHDO rehabs with funds made available as Linden Meadows moves forward

Workshops from local banks to review loan programs available for remodeling/rehabbing/purchasing homes

Establishment of a City Court to speed code enforcement process

Increasing the staffing of the City Legal department

We have a stated goal. Let’s continue to brainstorm ways to accomplish that goal. Please post your ideas.

The next step will be to develop specific objectives and strategies that contribute to accomplishing the goal. At a future date, we can take this discussion off the web and have a public forum (hosted by S. Ellen Jones Neighborhood Association and East Spring Street Neighborhood Association) to explore assigning owners to specific tasks and projects.

Let’s also consider measurements of success. For example, how will we know that housing quality is improved? Has the number of blighted properties decreased? What’s the total number of blighted properties today? Is there a positive trend? How many homes have been rehabbed with CDBG or private funds? How many homes listed on HistoricNewAlbany.com were sold? How many building code citations were written last month? Last six months? Last year? How many were resolved successfully?

My point is that we can measure progress. But we need to establish how. Otherwise we are doomed to repeat the same threads, meetings, and complaints over and over and over.

This is a City wide problem. Put in your 2 cents worth – To Improve the Quality of Housing in New Albany.

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Finally, and specifically addressing the topic of the money needed to demolish those properties beyond redemption:

Unsafe Building Demolition: Thinking Outside the Box, by Ann Streckfus (Diggin’ in the Dirt).

I can't claim responsibility for the excellent suggestion that follows, because it was given to me by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. This friend is employed by a large government entity that requires frequent building removal, and they don't pay for it–they get paid by the companies who do the demolition. Yes, that's right–demolition companies will pay for the right to demolish many buildings and salvage the materials.

Thanks to Ted, Ann and everyone else who has been keeping this topic alive in the New Albany blogosphere.