Brace for Utopia: Blight's End Is Nigh

No probs so far with San Francisco's new anti-blight ordinance, which looks like it sailed through the Land Use and Economic Development Committee last night. The measure, which gives property owners 30 days to clean up "blight" before they're fined up to $500, will be voted on Tuesday. Though unrelated, the rule comes on the heels of certain nabes awakening to the realization that having empty storefronts kind of, well, sucks. If districts are willing to roll back restrictions on certain businesses to get their neighborhoods lively and functioning again, an unleashing of the blight police shan't be far away, we say. And indeed, the measure's sponsor, Supe Gerard Sandoval, sounds as happy as a clam about it: "I think we're pretty much assured passage now, and it will be an important tool for the city." Good thing, because blight smackdowns might come in handy in North Beach if shoe cobblers don't show up in sufficient numbers.
· Blighted property closer to being thing of the past [SF Examiner]
· Hope on the Horizon for Mish Blight? [Curbed SF]
· Be Very Afraid: Enter the Blight Police [Curbed SF]
· Adventures in Urban Blight: Dolores Street Den of Iniquity [Curbed SF]For more stories from Curbed SF, go to sf.curbed.com.