Vacant homes to be demolished in North Mpls.

Tuesday night in northeast Minneapolis a fire burned through a condemned, vacant house.

A few hours later, another empty house, this time in north Minneapolis, also became the target of arsonists.

Empty and blighted, dozens of Minneapolis homes, many abandoned in the foreclosure crisis, are now attracting criminals.

Gordon Knox owns property on the north side and has watched his block change quickly.

"As of late, there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6?about 8 abandoned houses on this block," says Gordon as he looks around the neighborhood.

The one next door to the property Gordon owns was condemned in 2006 and then destroyed by arson last February.

The city of Minneapolis will soon take the house down.

"Help the neighborhoods reduce crime and increase the livability factor in these neighborhoods," says Rocco Forte with the city of Minneapolis.

With the help of money from Hennepin County - $1.25 million - Minneapolis will demolish 50 vacant houses on the north side, houses that have been deemed nuisance properties by city ordinance with no chance of being fixed.

"What I know is there are too many of these and they affect everybody on this block and neighboring blocks in terms of their hope, in terms of their safety," says Hennepin County commissioner Mike Opat.

The foreclosure crisis has left behind hundreds of vacant houses in several Minneapolis neighborhoods. Three years ago there were 200 vacant houses. Today there are 900 empty houses - vacant, boarded up, abandoned - across the city.

"This is like a financial tornado that's ripping through the city of Minneapolis," says Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein.

The upcoming demolitions in north Minneapolis are part of a citywide effort to either fix or get rid of problem properties. Last year, 69 condemned homes were ordered rehabilitated. 57 demolished.

Gordon Knox is anxious for the empty place next door to come down. To him and many of his neighbors, it's one house closer to breathing new life into an entire neighborhood.

"This is like an investment so it's very important to me that the neighborhood is on an upslide instead of a downslide," says Gordon.

The city of Minneapolis already planned to demolish 50 vacant homes this year. The county money will bring that number up to 100.

City and county officials believe new homes will eventually be built on the vacant land once the housing market improves.

By Trisha Volpe, KARE 11 News Read Trisha's Blog

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