As part of our limited series of posts to help residents of Baltimore’s Council District 1 choose between Democrat Zeke Cohen and Republican Matt McDaniel in the forthcoming general election, both candidates and voters might want to consider the enclosed map of vacant buildings.

This map, based on data provided by the city, enables you to see the precise location of over 16,000 vacant buildings – with special attention to those located in District 1 which is highlighted in orange. The map is fully interactive.  Use the full-screen and “+” buttons to blow up the map to make it easy to read.  The more you zoom-in, the easier it will be for you to read the names of streets.  Mousing-over or clicking on the blue dots will give you the street address of the property and Council District in which it is located.

Who cares?  Well, you should.  Vacant properties are an opportunity lost for neighborhood improvement and economic growth.  No candidate seriously interested in improving his or her District should earn voter support without a detailed and realistic plan for productively eliminating these vacancies.

Unfortunately, the city’s Vacants-To-Value program has only approximately 1800 properties – of over 16,000 – and has managed to productively resolve an average of fewer than 20 properties on the average per month since the program’s inception in 2010. Candidates:  You need to do better.  Much better.