Have you ever been to one of the blocks right near the elevated CSX tracks in Point Breeze? Aside from being in the shadow of slowly disintegrating infrastructure, the homes here also have the benefit of having a ton of steps to get to the front door. Due to the change in grade on the block, as you get closer to 25th Street, the homes stay the same height but the number of stairs increase dramatically. Here, check out an old photo of the end of the block:
As you can see in this photo, many of these properties have been sitting blighted for years. You may wonder how the owners of these properties have been allowed to let them fall into such disrepair. Then again, if you've lived in Philadelphia for a few years, you may not wonder at all. But here's some (sort of) good news! Two of the homes have been demolished. That means that the City will bill the owners for demolition, and if they ever want to sell the property, they'll have to repay the City for the demolition work.
Okay, we admit it. We tricked you. Both of these homes were owned by the City of Philadelphia. So congratulations, taxpayer! You get to pay for a tiny share of the demolition of these homes! Of course, the City could have surely sold them to a private developer. Or given them away, so that we all didn't have to pay for demolition. Alas, it didn't happen. And now it's on us. Hooray!