Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 03/25/2013 9:44:25 AM PDT by Darren McCarty
FLINT, MI -- Flint isn't alone when it comes to battling high rates of arson.
Although Flint led the nation in per capita arsons for cities with at least 100,000 in 2011, some cities across the nation, and particularly the Midwest, are dealing with elevated arson rates, according to the most-recent data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Like Flint, many of the other cities experiencing high arson rates also have a plethora of vacant homes.
Here is a brief statistical look at the cities with the highest arson rates in the country:
1) Flint
Population: 102,357
Total arsons: 287
Arsons per 100,000 residents: 280
Percentage of vacant housing units: 26
(Excerpt) Read more at mlive.com ...
Cities in order
Flint, Toledo, Detroit, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Dayton, Rochester (NY), Cleveland (OH), Baton Rouge, and Evansville IN.
I’m surprised that Boston isn’t on the list. I guess that things have changed in the last ten to twenty years or so.
Wow, 4 are in OH.
I didn’t notice that. I guess real estate values there must not have recovered sufficiently? I keep hearing that the economy is picking up, but stories like this make me wonder.
Michigan and Ohio almost fought a war over Toledo. Michigan won and got the UP. Ohio lost and was forced to keep Toledo.
I bet most are. All those are factory cities outside of maybe Baton Rouge which I don’t know anything about.
I live in a very rural county in Virginia. Pop about 35,000. We’ve had 75 arsons since mid November. All have been vacant and mostly abandoned buildings - some abandoned for 40+ years - old farm buildings just left when they built a house on another section of the property for example.
Going out on a limb here: All democrat strongholds?
I passed through Baton Rouge years ago. I don’t know for sure but it looked like a largely industrial town then.
LOL!
I doubt very much that it’s insurance fraud. Don’t you have to rebuild on the same property, I’m not sure? More than likely crackheads and the like are taking up residence in the abandon buildings and starting fires to keep warm.
Or Lynn, MA nearby. Fire deemed “suspicious”
http://itemlive.com/articles/2013/03/25/updates/updates20.txt
>> The Monday morning fire that gutted a large apartment building at 145 Lewis St. is “suspicious,” said Fire Chief James McDonald. “Given the amount of fire on arrival of fire companies and the location of the fire, it’s suspicious and it is under investigation,” McDonald said.
Perhaps is they had made a list of the 10 states with the highest arson rates, Massachusetts would have been among them.
Petroleum and corruption....
The house next door to me is currently listed for $7K on craigslist—three lots further down the block a house is listed for $280K. Most of us on this block would bring marshmallows for toasting if a fire should happen to occur at one of those properties.
An old mill built in the late 1800s and preserved by the local preservationist society in my town burnt down a few months ago. They were not able to offically determine the cause. Most folks believe it was a bum lighting a fire to stay warm and dry since it was a cold and rainy night.
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