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Photo courtesy John Winters Thanks to The Boren Foundation, and Jack and Karen Kay Leonard for making this website possible. |
Improving Kids' Environment is a partner in the Citizen's Healthy Homes Initiative with the Concerned Clergy and the Citizen's Multi-Service Center. As a partner, IKE wrote a Needs Assessment for the Kennedy-King Park Neighborhood on Indianapolis' Near Northeast Side. The Needs Assessment was published on August 23, 2003. Back to Main Report
Indianapolis Citizen’s Healthy Homes Initiative
Kennedy-King Park Neighborhood Needs Assessment
Finding #1
Vacant lots outnumber homes.
51% of the homes in the neighborhood have been demolished and not replaced since the neighborhood prospered in the early 20th Century. Vacant lots now stand as a reminder of their presence. Ruckle Ave. has 54 vacant lots on just 3 blocks. Vacant lots outnumber the homes on this street by five to two. Bellefontaine has the lowest percentage of vacant lots with 37%.
Many residents say that the previous city administrations adopted a “scorched earth” policy that declared war on abandoned homes by tearing them down. The city provided little support to rehab the homes or to prevent the homes from falling into a condition that made demolition the only option. The residents are worried that Mayor Peterson’s current war on abandoned buildings will have similar results.
A neighborhood with many vacant lots loses its cohesiveness and stability by isolating residents from each other.
