Photo by Bruce Rushton When the city sued two years ago to force fixes to this house, it discovered that the owner had died in 1964. Eyesores can last years in Springfield. Consider 2809 Poplar Avenue. In lieu of shingles, a sheet of plastic is nailed to part of the roof. A green notice posted by city inspectors who declared the building unsafe has faded from the sun. Roxana Talley, who has lived next door for two decades, said that the last resident moved a couple years ago after spending the last year or so living in a shed in the backyard because the house wasn t habitable. When he turned 62, Talley says, he moved into a high-rise apartment in another part of town.