When looking at the census tracts within our study area – 80-83, 86, and 87 – the vacancy of eastern tracts versus western tracts was astonishing. After looking at the housing units in structure over the years and the vacancy, I pulled up ownership in the area to see who was actually living in the houses they owned. This was done through www.kcparcelviewer.com and it was a good way to see who all owns properties in the area. For a refresher, the vacancy has been shown below. The western tracts are 82, 83, and 86, and the eastern tracts are 80, 81, and 87.

In order to gather the data for ownership in the area, I downloaded excel files and then highlighted all the out of state owners. This means there could be in state owners who still do not live in the area. Therefore, the percentage is a rough percentage but it gets the point across. So, for the eastern tracts, about 18.9% of the parcels are owned by people, companies, or trusts, that are not located in the state of Missouri. For the western tracts, only about 5.8% of the parcels are owned by people, companies, or trusts, outside the state of Missouri.

To me, the correlation between the two makes perfect sense because out of state owners are not necessarily concerned with filling property – especially if the parcel is owned by a company or a trust. This means the neighborhood needs to take back their parcels or make the owners of those parcels fill them or at least take care of them. All in all, I think the contrast between east and west is sad and it should not be because the housing stock is very similar and the vacancy and ownership rates should not be that different.