Blighted properties tell citizens who care about their communities everything they need to know about the past. They tell stories of neglect among their neighbors. Often, they stand as reminders of government inaction, then slowly crumble as things as concrete as neighborhoods and as abstract as community pride deteriorate along with them.
The same blight can be the example of how the future can turn for the better. After all, those properties and neighborhoods often become the site of community renewal, of reborn pride. They can stand as the example of community action, of community caring, of political foresight and the creative solutions that can come from all of it.
That is why the continued efforts of many to counter the negative effects of blight throughout the region should continue to inspire those of us who call it home to do our part to help make Northeast Pennsylvania a better place to live.
There is no shortage of efforts in this part of the state to clean up and make something new out of crumbling properties, but several plans announced in recent weeks are enough to bring all of those efforts collectively to the fore. On Monday, officials in Pottsville heard the first readings of three bills that, if enacted, would enable the city to seize three blighted properties on Mahantongo Street through eminent domain. Once the city acquires the properties, Schuylkill County will pay for the demolition of buildings Pottsville Mayor Tom Smith said have been blighted for as many as 18 years.
In Lackawanna County, the Scranton Redevelopment Authority filed a petition late last year to take the unprecedented step of seeking legal conservatorship of a vacant home in the city. The plan is to rehabilitate the property, which has been condemned since 2023, vacant for at least a year and not actively marketed for sale, according to the petition.
It is thought to be the first conservatorship sought by Scranton in many years, and if the city can prove it is blighted and ultimately acquire it through the courts, it would come on the heels of an ordinance enacted by Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and City Council that established a committee to review and notify the SRA of blighted properties.
The aggressiveness with which local officials have been attacking blight in recent years sets a good example not just for the type of governance that can get things done on these important matters, but as a means of putting property owners on notice.
The list of innovative ways local lawmakers are dealing with blight are not limited to these measures. They range from taking fights to courts to developing strategies to find the worst blight, to raising and dedicating more money to eliminating problem properties, to even rewarding homeowners who maintain their own properties well with smaller tokens of thanks. But whatever the approach is they need to take, the extra steps to minimize the issue are always worth the effort, especially when they also minimize the costs of attaining properties that traditionally have been passed down to taxpayers.
The rewards are obvious.
Reducing the amount of dilapidated and uncared-for properties in our neighborhoods increases the value of nearby properties, provides a boost in community pride, encourages investment in homes and businesses and takes a bite out of potentially dangerous situations for neighborhood children and walkers passing by crumbling buildings.
Last year, police officials in Nanticoke and Pittston both theorized that drastic decreases in reported violent crime were due at least in part to concerted efforts by Luzerne County and their respective communities to reduce blighted properties.
“It’s not only a problem looking at it. You’re always going to have somebody either trying to break into it and use it as a home or usually drug addicts will go in there,” Nanticoke Police Chief Mike Roke said. “Then it becomes problematic for everybody around.”
To a degree, fighting blight is always going to be like a game of catch-up for local governments. But the effort to stay on top of potential issues seems to be greater now, and always an appreciated effort. Blight, and the neglect of property owners that leads to it, does not have to be tolerated in our communities.
A “Condemned” sign hangs in a window of 802 Mahantongo Street in Pottsville, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. The City of Pottsville seeks to acquire the blighted buildings at 800-804 Mahantongo Street through eminent domain so they can be demolished. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
The City of Pottsville seeks to acquire the blighted buildings at 800-804 Mahantongo Street through eminent domain so they can be demolished, properties pictured Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
The City of Pottsville seeks to acquire the blighted buildings at 800-804 Mahantongo Street through eminent domain so they can be demolished, properties pictured Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
A blighted property sits condemned at 25 New York St. in Scranton Wednesday, January 7, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A blighted property sits condemned at 25 New York St. in Scranton Wednesday, January 7, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Demolition of Stanton Lanes on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE/STAFF PHOTOS)
Graffiti covers the side of the former Stanton Lanes bowling alley on Stanton Street in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The vacant building is owned by Mount Zion Baptist Church. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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A “Condemned” sign hangs in a window of 802 Mahantongo Street in Pottsville, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. The City of Pottsville seeks to acquire the blighted buildings at 800-804 Mahantongo Street through eminent domain so they can be demolished. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)