It's nearly impossible for a city the size of Williamsport to have no blighted property and to have the perfect housing situation.
But the next best thing is a severe reduction in blighted property and a viable housing stock and the city is well on its way to accomplishing that.
City Codes Administrator Joe Gerardi told the Williamsport Rotary Club last week that the city's list of blighted properties is down to 40, seven of which are under permit for renovation.
A few years ago the blighted list totaled 117 properties. Since then, 62 properties have been brought into codes compliance and 15 have been demolished.
A very hands-on, communication-based approach with the owners of problem properties clearly is working.
That plan includes regular rental property inspections under a program started by a previous administration.
While much has been made of a housing shortage in the city, Gerardi clarified that it is an "affordable housing shortage," adding that the city can't control rental fees or home sale prices.
But numbers show a deceptively solid housing profile.
In the past 4 1/2 years, the city has seen 133 new hotel rooms constructed with another 97 now under construction, 61 new apartment units constructed with 32 new units under construction and 27 new homes constructed.
At the same time, 84 structures have been demolished, including 40 residential structures razed by Susquehanna Health for its expansion.
The city's available housing inventory includes 92 single-family homes, 24 multi-family homes and nine building parcels as well as about 150 vacant plots within the city on which to build.
All these facts point to a better housing situation than most people would perceive for the city.
