DETROIT – Blight is a battle the city of Detroit has been fighting for decades.
The Sims had driven past this vacant auto shop on Fenkell Avenue in Detroit for years. It wasn’t until the city remediated the property that they gave it a second look.
“They cleaned it up and painted it, and it made it more appealing to people to buy,” Kenia Sims said.
They purchased the property at an auction last September and plan to transform it into a youth center for their non-profit, The Movement Stop the Violence Detroit.
“It is good we bought this property that we can help the young kids get (themselves) together,” coach Rob Sims said.
“We want to teach them trades and have entrepreneurs come in, talk to them, and coach them,” Kenia said.
Last month, for Local 4′s “In Your Neighborhood” series in northwest Detroit, I spent time with Detroit Blight Remediation Assistant Director Katrina Crawley, talking about the city’s initiative to tackle blight in commercial corridors like Fenkell Avenue.
She goes after owners of blighted properties, holding them responsible for cleaning them up.
“When we come out and we see a target area, we look for potential, we look for opportunity, and we look to bring hope,” Crawley said.
Darnell Jackson is a city contractor for the blight remediation program. Monday afternoon, his crews were on Fenkell Avenuedoing what he described as front staging.
“We come through. We clean the garbage up, all the trash out, and we go from there,” Jackson said.
The efforts to remove blight are making way for economic development.
“It is very important for one, you got to keep the dollars in our community,” Kenia said.