The TOADS

Abstract

This article is an exploratory study of Temporarily Obsolete Abandoned Derelict Sites (TOADS)-that is, deserted industrial sites and housing projects. Interviews with city planning departments and/or health departments in 14 of the 15 largest cities in the United States led to an analysis of how city governments experience and respond to TOADS. TOADS produce not only obvious economic problems but also less well-documented social problems: makeshift housing for the homeless, drug havens, fire-safety hazards, and toxic waste sites. A TOADS epidemic is taking place in American cities, large and small. Additional research and policy approaches for dealing with this TOADS epidemic are suggested.