Almost 20% of homes in Petersburg are vacant.
That number alone puts the city among the top 10% of cities and neighborhoods in the country with similar vacancy rates. Unlike the other areas with comparable rates, Petersburg isn’t a seasonal or vacation spot. Rather than dealing with part-time residents, the city continues to battle its major blight epidemic.
“The blight that happened in Petersburg has been a result of years of neglect from property owners and the response from Property Maintenance was less than aggressive,” said Francis Poulin, director of Code Compliance Division’s Neighborhood Services
Petersburg suffered massive blight back for years now. The blight led to homes and buildings, like the old Ramada Inn off of 1-95, become more and more battered as time went on. The city wanted to address its blight epidemic and zeroed in on first fortifying the homes and buildings in its historic districts.