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With media coverage, three Facebook Live videos and Mayor Mike Duggan's presence , Detroit on Tuesday knocked down its 10,000th vacant home (above) since he took office 2 1/2 years ago.
The pace now averaging 150 demolitions a week, according to the city.
The vacant home at 14097 Marlowe in the city’s Cerveny neighborhood on the northwest side came down in about 20 minutes ,The Detroit News reports.
“We have made real progress in the past 2½ years and improved the quality of life for residents in a lot of neighborhoods, but we still have lots of work to do,” Duggan in a statement. “But 10,000 demolitions is a great start, and we are not going to let up one bit.”
At the previous pace, he says, it would have taken 30 years to remove the 40,000 unsalvageable buildings.
Duggan expects it to take six more years if federal funding continues to be available.
In a series of tweets, he adds:
It took us a while to get the hang of this and I won't say we're perfect, but we're moving more efficiently than anyone else in the country.
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) July 19, 2016
Every time one of these homes comes down we make life better for the community.
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) July 19, 2016
This has been an incredible learning process, but no one in America has begun to address blight in the way we have.
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) July 19, 2016
80% of contractors taking down these homes are Detroiters.
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) July 19, 2016
To everybody who has been a part of this, I want to say thank you.
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) July 19, 2016
We need to be realistic about where we are. 10,000 is a remarkable concept, but we still have 30,000 to go.
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) July 19, 2016
