We will have lived in our house 38 years come April. We bought an old run-down rental American four-square on the edge of our downtown just as renovation of old homes was beginning and have spent years and lots of dollars renovating, restoring and repairing our home.
Now, the powers that be think our block would make a great re-development site because our downtown would flourish, flourish, I tell you, if only there were more housing choices surrounding downtown. We had to fight a blight designation twice within a year and it’s scary and frustrating, because the blight designation has nothing to do with the condition of housing but is things like improper platting, or obsolete street patterns.
We have so many examples in this town of developers promising “world-class” projects and delivering “discount city”, but our city council keeps falls for the same line, over and over.
The only suggestion I can give you is to contact the local reporters. This is one time you can use liberal agenda reporters to your advantage. They love digging up dirt on politicians for the little guy. That’s what ultimately saved my property. The local lib rag shamed them in to admitting what a sham the eminent domain declaration was in regards to my former city.
You are fighting big money and dreamy eyed politicians. Your biggest ally is your local neighbors and the newspaper. Go full Alinsky on their asses. Go out and find an endangered toad and place it in your garden. Go find some spotted owls and put their nest in your trees. Fight those bastards with every dirty trick in the book because they will not stop.