Count the Empties

How many homes are empty on your street, in your community, or across the country?

The USA has nearly 15 million empty homes (link) --
these blank gaps are 11.4% of all housing. Headlines in the UK declare (link) a million empty homes. Vacant homes are often "owned by the bank" though the bank's money was taken from the public. Citizens also pay police to evict the homeless.

We should pay more attention to the wider tragic picture of financial crisis and hollowed-out communities. Many homes are emptied by foreclosures or a midnight escape by the grossly indebted. How many? Count the empty homes near you, and better understand housing ripoffs.

Vacant or abandoned properties harm neighborhoods. They're a safety & fire hazard. Someone needs to pay for:

• Trash removal & cleaning
• Yard maintenance
• Utilities
• Boarding/securing the building
• Repair, hazard, emergency repairs, demolition
• Inspection, vacant property registration
• Taxes, etc.

We're living a major political disaster. Maybe spray-painting a big number on the street or building corner (as with other disasters) might mitigate our distress.

Corrupted politicians helped the banks & the rich, who control jobs & housing, and who now squeeze the rest of us, as we shiver in merciless cold.