Urban Homesteading

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on September 1, 1980
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This ready-for-restoration building shows how poorly some of the homes in
This ready-for-restoration building shows how poorly some of the homes in "neighborhoods on the way up" have been maintained by absentee landlords.
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Many gutted and boarded up buildings offered for a dollar down in urban homesteading programs might well appear disheartening  to the prospective renovator.
Many gutted and boarded up buildings offered for a dollar down in urban homesteading programs might well appear disheartening  to the prospective renovator.
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TOP: Interiors are also often in need of work... BOTTOM: ...but with time, labor, and construction know-how they can become lovely dwellings
TOP: Interiors are also often in need of work... BOTTOM: ...but with time, labor, and construction know-how they can become lovely dwellings
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This attractive living room was once dirty, dilapidated, and unlivable.
This attractive living room was once dirty, dilapidated, and unlivable.

A hundred years ago, “go west, young man” was good advice. After all, the western sky was big and clear, and land was free for the taking. Well, the Homestead Act was repealed in 1976, and there isn’t any more undeveloped “free land” to be had in the United States. But–as many people are discovering–it’s still possible to homestead … in the heart of many American cities! And in these days of fuel shortages and transportation problems, folks with urban jobs are finding out that “citysteading” can be energy-efficient and–in general–not a bad idea at all!

Urban homesteading programs–which allow people to purchase (for a dollar down!) and renovate decaying urban properties–came about as a response to the metropolitan housing crisis of the late 1960’s. About that time, the middle-class flight to the suburbs had led to an increased need for city services on the part of the poor who remained behind … and taxes rose as the tax base fell.

Many landlords–neglecting required maintenance–squeezed the last penny from their properties and then walked away from back-tax bills. The abandoned buildings began to blight entire neighborhoods, more and more property dropped from the tax rolls, and the cycle of vandalism and arson took hold.

The original citysteading programs–which started in 1973 in Wilmington, Delaware … Philadelphia, Pennsylvania … and Baltimore, Maryland–were begun to help break the cycle of urban decline. Then, in 1974, the federal government entered the picture with the passage of the Housing and Community Development Act … and the stockpile of federally owned homes (most of which resulted from defaults on FHA mortgages) joined the numbers of municipally owned tax-delinquent buildings. By 1975, demonstration programs were underway in 23 cities … and now, nearly 90 urban areas participate!

How It Works

MOTHER EARTH NEWS recently sent staffer Peter Hemingson to Baltimore to observe the workings of what’s generally considered one of the best urban homesteading programs. Both city-owned and federally repossessed houses are included in the Chesapeake Bay city’s setup, and–while some requirements differ from one piece of property to another–the general homesteading procedure is the same.

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