Bob Logue

THE FACTS

* Philadelphia lost more population in the last census than any other of the nation's largest cities.
* Philadelphia once had 2.1 million people and now has less than 1.5 million. Loss of 600,000 people.
* Pittsburgh continues to decline. The city once had 676,000 people…now has 320,000.
* Allegheny County lost over 48,000 people between 2003 and 2004.
* The U.S. Census bureau predicts a continued decline for Allegheny County over the next 25 years.
* One in every ten homes or lots in Philadelphia is ABANDONED.
* Pittsburgh has 350 newly ABANDONED homes EVERY YEAR. The blight continues to spread.
* A single abandoned home on any street, devalues all the other homes on that street by $6,500 EACH.

Imagine the value lost to home owners just in our two largest cities.
* Pennsylvania suffered the second largest percentage increase (by far) in foreclosures among all 50 states from January 2005 to January 2006.
* Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, and many other cities, towns and boroughs are facing financial difficulty due to declining or stagnant population and economic decline.
* Quality of life is declining in many cities and towns as budget problems force layoffs of police, fire fighters, street workers and other public service employees.
* Philadelphia’s poverty rate was at 24.9 percent, the fifth worst in the nation. One in every four people in Philadelphia lives in poverty.
* Across Pennsylvania more than 20% of all of our children live in poverty…that’s one in every five of our children.
* As the population declines in our cities and counties, those remaining residents must pick up a greater share of the costs of our schools, counties and municipalities.
* Selling homes in many of our cities and counties is difficult resulting in declining or stagnant property values—costing individuals and families collective billions of dollars in lost assets.

The policies our state leaders have been following have certainly not solved these problems. It’s time for a dramatic change of thinking. The idea that we must continue to do what we’ve been doing…because we’ve always done it that way… can no longer be tolerated.

Citizens must demand a dramatic change of thinking, and refuse to vote for those incumbents who desire to continue these failed policies. Throwing more money at these problems isn’t the answer.
It’s just rearranging the dining menu on the Titanic.

Abolish ALL property taxes on primary residences and Pennsylvania will:: Attract more people to establish their homes in our state, counties and municipalities; stop losing congressional seats; create a huge economic boom; generate tens of thousands of jobs; revitalize our declining cities, towns and rural areas; create more business opportunities; cut the size of government; save county governments across the entire state tens of millions of dollars in expenditures; save homeowners millions of dollars they now spend to defend their homes from unfair assessments; stop governmental intrusions onto private properties; make it possible for more individuals and families to own their homes—including women and minorities; keep more families together; help farmers keep their farms….and much more.

Visitor Comments:

Anonymous says :
Talk about abandoned properties..... Search "city of pittsburgh" on the Allegheny Copunty website. Pages, and pages, resulting in HUNDREDS of properties the city owns, most of them vacant, open, and vandalized!

DRUG HOUSES, BURNED HOUSES, CONDEMNED HOUSES, HOUSES THAT ARE BLIGHTED AND ATTRACTING CRIMINALS!

The city needs to unload these properties at sheriff sale NOW! For whatever price they fetch. And get them back on the TAX ROLES!

This is probably why the city has a junk bond rating! They're probably borrowing against the equity on sh*tty city owned real estate, I wish the auditor general would take a look at the books... oh, and the URA's books too!
Anonymous says :
Could you send this to the Capital??
Anonymous says :
The laws that cause suburban sprawl are causing the ruin of farm land and devaluing of property. There should be large tax credits given for the RE-USE of property. Let builders tear down old housing and rebuild, not deforest and blight the entire commonwealth of its forests and farms. Allow property owners to own land around their homes without such heavy taxing. Suburban sprawl is causing death and destruction with flooding, which never happened before this corporate welfare policy of allowing builders to cannabalize the land. It is corporate welfare because the highway system enables this unwise use of the land geared only to benefit a small number of contractors.
Anonymous says :
Totally Agree! Tax credit for the reuse, recycling, and renovating of EXISTING urban properties, NOT condemning, demolishing, and building fresh so called 'green' buildings. What a FARCE! Wake Up people! The construction of million dollar 'Green' buildings is nothing but the devoring of massive amounts of non-renewable resources, of which only a small fraction of that would be required to renovate EXISTING OLDER buildings. All in the name of saving a measily 20-35% in energy costs. you'd have to have most green buildings in service for 200 years before youd accrue savings enough to justify the projects construction costs.

WE NEED TO SAVE OUR OLDER NEIGHBORHOODS NOW! TAKE THEM BACK FROM THE URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY! GIVE TAX CREDITS TO PEOPLE WHO TAKE PRIDE IN THEIR PROPERTIES AND WANT TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO THEM... DONT PUNISH US WITH HIGHER TAX BILLS!
Tyler Mock says :
First, identify yourselves or you won't be taken seriously, secondly, there are SOME buildings that are beyond repair and should be town down. Perhaps not for the goal of building green buildings, but for a more ecological purpose like a free public park, or a small playground. I don't believe in section 8 housing or anything subsidized, it rewards people for abusing the system designed to help people. If we are going to have older neighborhoods, let's have them, leave contact information and lets for a non-profit to achieve something. I'm the founder of Project Regreen, it's goal is to dismantle buildings on private property legally, and use whatever materials are left. Think about it like this, if an abandoned garage would just sit there, the rest of it would rot away, when there are some useable resources, and the land it's on is going to waste. Not all buildings should be treated like this, but some would benefit everyone. If you are serious about helping, stop talking, and do something.


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S.T.O.P. Primary Residence Protection Plan

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