LAWMO Helps Fight Urban Blight In Kansas City

LAWMO's Economic Development Unit places heavy emphasis on remedying the shortage of available, habitable and affordable low-income housing. Staff work in close collaboration with various Kansas City, MO municipal departments, volunteer attorneys, and nonprofit community organizations to propel community-driven redevelopment throughout the inner-city. This collaboration results in the reduction of blight and crime, increases tax revenues, and stimulates additional investment. Most importantly, it greatly improves the quality of life for Kansas Citians living in the urban core.

Through our Abandoned Housing Project, Legal Aid's Economic Development staff address the problem of vacant lots and abandoned and blighted properties by working with community partners to identify and take possession of vacant lots and abandoned properties. When city enforcement procedures are inadequate to remedy a dilapidated/blighted condition, staff can negotiate with or file a lawsuit against the offending property owner, who is often an absentee landlord. This legal intervention can result in rehabilitation of a property or, if necessary, its demolition.  

Adopt-A-Neighborhood is a collaborative project between Legal Aid, private law firms, and eastside neighborhoods in Kansas City, MO. Their goal is to assist urban core communities address quality of life concerns by providing high-quality legal service to qualifying individuals, neighborhood associations and local non-profit organizations that serve the neighborhoods.

See attached PDF document for complete story and before and after pictures of properties around Kansas City, Missouri.