Writing Sample

There has also been an increase in the number of vacancies within Scarritt. The vacancy rate has increased by double the percent from 1980 to 2010 with the most recent rate being around 21%. This is very high as a vacancy rate, with the overall vacancy in the Kansas City Metro area being around 4%. At over five time the rate of the Metro, such a historic neighborhood receiving an increasing number of vacancies due to the disinvestment as well as the lack of people to keep the neighborhood maintained. When there are more vacancies, property values of housing units in the neighborhood go down, which causes many people to leave their homes and move to where their purchase will retain its value better. This causes a domino effect in the finances of the area as well, making it difficult for Scarritt to start back up on the upswing if they are not getting any assistance from the government. The government needs to give money to individuals so that the funds can immediately be put back into the economy again. People who have been disinvested in for decades need the funding to bring themselves back up to equal footing with the rest of the areas that are receiving all the funding they need, and then some.