HARRISBURG, Pa. — Harrisburg resident Maria Espada has lived in the city for more than 17 years. Now living in the Allison Hill neighborhood, Espada says she is reminded of blight in her community every day.
"I think it's horrible," Espada said. "Behind my house there's an empty dumpster...[and] the city has done nothing about it. We have called them, we have told them about it. [It's] still there."
On Thursday, Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams and the head of the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority toured Espada's neighborhood on foot in hopes of addressing its ongoing issues.
"We want to know if we can reinvest in these homes," said Williams.
Williams plans to eventually use American Rescue Plan dollars to create more affordable housing in the city, which is a dire need for Harrisburg families.
Officials say Impact Harrisburg funds, which go towards infrastructure and economic development grants, are slowly running out. A large portion of this money is used to identify and acquire blighted properties.
"There's not been funding at the level for strictly acquisition and demolition to address blight so we don't have that resource," said Bryan Davis, the executive director of Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority.
Even though current conditions are far from ideal in many areas of Harrisburg, Davis says blight isn't as bad as it was in the 1990s. However, he and city council members are working to come up with a plan to fix the problems.
For Espada, she hopes that plan comes sooner rather than later.
"I really think that these buildings need to be taken care of," she said. "Why build a new neighborhood around dirt?"