Current and future City of Altoona elected and appointed officials should heed the lesson emanating from the longtime problem property on 21st Avenue at 14th Street.
That lesson is to address that which is rundown before it becomes too expensive and difficult to repair, necessitating demolition.
Had the city acted much sooner to try to address the house in question’s worsening condition, it might have ended up being cost-effective to bring the property back to life without demolition being a viable option. For a long time, it was no secret that the property had become a significant challenge, but city officials apparently hoped that luck would prevail and that someone would step forward on its behalf…