Rep. Ralph Long Says that the City is Taking Too Long to Demolish Eyesores

Last week CBS Atlanta reported that the City of Atlanta has slowed down its progress of tearing down long abandoned buildings in Southwest Atlanta.

Rep. Ralph Long said, "the people of this community, the citizens in Southwest Atlanta with a zip code 30311, deserve better than this."

According to CBS' reporting the city claimed they would be tearing down 200 buildings this year, but the total at this point stands far below that number.

CBS Atlanta News questioned Atlanta Code Enforcement spokesperson Carlos Campos on Friday, and he said they are moving through the process as quickly as possible.

Residents in Southwest Atlanta have for months complained about abandoned buildings during local NPU meetings. They are eyesores, they are unsafe, and they tend to breed drugs and drug users.  Many people blame many of the neighborhood fires on drug users that squat in some of these abandoned buildings, and no resident wants to continue to live next to a dangerous eyesore.

What should be done with these buildings?  According to the authorities there are legal matters that slow down the process of tearing them down, and also it leaves the question of what should go in place of the building.

Cascade Patch is always eager to here what our readers think.  What are your suggestions about this problem?