You know what will stop bust-outs, gang bangers, scrappers, and whore from breaking into buildings? Raise the fines!
- People breaking into abandoned buildings in Chicago would face stiffer fines under a proposal headed to the City Council.
Aldermen and Fire Department officials have sought ways to give more teeth to city ordinances governing abandoned buildings, which often become havens for crime and dangerous fires.
Ald. James Balcer's plan seeks to deter homeless people, drug addicts, prostitutes, gang members and others from breaking into the buildings by increasing to $200 the fines they could face. The Zoning Committee approved the plan today, and it will head to the full council next Thursday.
Brilliant! They'll all be paralyzed into inactivity based on a $200 fine!!! Nevermind that the homeless have no money, the dope addicts spend anything they get, the whores are turning tricks there to get money, the gang members don't really care since they'll beat the case in court and the scrappers will just break into the next house if they get fined at all.
Does anyone have any idea how many abandoned buildings there are in Chicago right about now? There are swaths of the south and west sides where unoccupied dwellings outnumber the occupied by factors of ten. Certain police districts have 1,600, 1,800 even 2,000 vacant buildings in various states of being boarded up. The numbers are certainly much higher than the number of coppers that would be required to check every single building with any regularity. We'd bet probably over 20,000 buildings.
You know what solves the problem? Bulldozers and dump trucks. It also reduces the stock of unoccupied buildings, leading to a more stable housing market. Economics 101, supply and demand. It also reduces crime. And provides jobs to union operating engineers, truckers, waste haulers, etc. Sounds like an all-around winner to us.
Does anyone have any idea how many abandoned buildings there are in Chicago right about now? There are swaths of the south and west sides where unoccupied dwellings outnumber the occupied by factors of ten. Certain police districts have 1,600, 1,800 even 2,000 vacant buildings in various states of being boarded up. The numbers are certainly much higher than the number of coppers that would be required to check every single building with any regularity. We'd bet probably over 20,000 buildings.
You know what solves the problem? Bulldozers and dump trucks. It also reduces the stock of unoccupied buildings, leading to a more stable housing market. Economics 101, supply and demand. It also reduces crime. And provides jobs to union operating engineers, truckers, waste haulers, etc. Sounds like an all-around winner to us.