Nuisance properties
Dayton streets with 10 or more properties listed on Dayton’s Structutral Nuisance Database report prepared July 2 (Source: City of Dayton).
Listed by number of properties in the database.
Third Street (29 west/ 20 east) — 49
Riverside Drive — 34
Fifth Street (29 east/ four west) — 33
Lexington Avenue — 32
Second Street (22 west/ nine east) — 31
Oxford Avenue — 26
Hoover Avenue — 24
Westwood Avenue — 23
Gettysburg Avenue — 23
Mia Avenue — 22
Oakridge Drive — 21
Germantown Street — 21
Xenia Avenue — 21
Grand Avenue — 20
Kammer Avenue — 20
Lakeview Avenue — 20
Salem Aveue — 19
Fairview Avenue (11 west/ 6 east) — 17
Euclid Avenue ( four north/ 12 south) — 16
First Street (14 west/ two east) — 16
North Main Street — 15
North Orchard Avenue — 15
Horton Street (five north/ 10 south) — 15
Weaver Street — 14
Alwildy Avenue — 14
Ardmore Avenue — (five north/nine south) 14
Catalpa Drive — 14
Brooklyn Avenue — 14
Edison Street — 14
South Garfield Avenue — 13
Mathison Street (11 north/ two south) — 13
North Garland Avenue — 13
Hawker Street — 12
Eichelberger Avenue — 12
Whitmore Avenue — 12
Wisconsin Boulevard — 12
Ravenwood Avenue — 12
Superior Avenue — 12
Potomac Street — 12
Kilmer Street (one north / 10 south) — 11
Huron Avenue — 11
Home Avenue — 11
Maryland Avenue — 10
Santa Clara Avenue — 10
Broadway Street — (one north/ nine south) – 10
Fountain Avenue — 10
The two-bedroom bungalow at 1420 Alwildy Ave. in Dayton could be the poster child for abandoned homes, but in a city with an estimated 6,500 dilapidated properties, it has stiff competition.
When asked, one of three little girls playing in the street with cartoon-character decorated suitcases guessed that someone blew down the porch on the light blue house.
Click here for a map of the other properties on the list on July 2.
An adult neighbor from down the street had another explanation.
Vandals snatched the metal rods supporting the porch, causing it to collapse.
The mountain of debris blocking the house’s front door is just one of its problems.
Graffiti covers the home’s matching garage. Two dirty sofas stacked one on top of the other block the garage doors. There’s no shortage of trash or weeds.
Thieves also apparently made off with the gutter once attached to the home constructed in 1913 and located at the intersection of Noble and Alwildy avenues.
Only one of the four houses at the intersection seems inhabited.
The two others — 1120 Noble and 1501 Alwildy — bear the words “presence on these premises prohibited” just like 1420 Alwildy.
Those houses — a cape cod built in 1925 and a 1918 duplex — look like most condemned buildings in the Gem City — broken, boarded or missing windows; rotted wood; overgrown grass; loose, hanging wires, etc.
Children were playing in the streets around them.
Like 2,166 other properties, the three houses are listed in the city’s Structural Nuisance Database.
Click here for a map of the other properties on the list on July 2.
There were 1,830 structures on the list in June 2013.
And as city official explained to me, there could easily be more.
The city has about 70,000 housing units, the majority are single-family homes.
Bryan Taulbee, a city spokesman, said the database is essentially a demolition list even though some of the properties can be rehabilitated.
According to an article by my colleague Cornelius Frolik, demolition is a priority.
Dayton has knocked down about 2,000 vacant units since 2010, including a record 915 residential units last year.
That said, a blinding light was shined on the city’s vacant property problem last month.
It seems neighbors wanted 217 S. Harbine Ave. knocked down long before Edward Brunton's mummified body was found there by a 12-year-old boy.
Officials say he killed himself nearly five years ago.
The unnoticed death is rare situation, but vacant, deteriorated homes, apartment building, stores and industrial sites often drain neighborhoods and drive down property values for those left surrounded by the rubble.
Acting Housing Inspection Manager Kevin Powell said listing all the structures that should be razed would be a full-time job.
“(Housing inspection staff ) wouldn’t get anything else done,” he said. “These structures are spread out throughout the cities.”
The city’s Structural Nuisance list changes daily with rehabilitation, demolitions and new locations.
Fountain Avenue, for instance, looks like a ghost town. Large sections of several streets are empty.
There are 12 vacant structures listed on Mia Avenue between 700 Mia and 832 Mia Ave. Twenty-two houses in all are empty.
There are clusters of vacancies on major gateways, short streets and on the city’s north, west, east and south sides.
There is an overwhelming number of properties like 1420 Alwildy Ave. out there.
About the Author
