For those who do not know I am originally from Baltimore Maryland. I do currently live in central Florida, but during certain points of the year usually in the summer I travel to my hometown. During the week I conducted these interviews I was in Baltimore and so the opportunity that is discussed in these recordings reflects my surrounding. After the housing bubble burst in 2008 and the market crashed most people within the United States were hit hard economically, with some being left homeless. Baltimore was no exception and the number of abandoned houses as well as homes in a state of disrepair has skyrocketed since this period. My interview focus on how this phenomenon affects Baltimore citizens in the community and what they think can be done to rectify the issue.
My Interviews are on Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/acottman1/interview-1
Conclusion; After conducting my interview the opportunity for neighborhoods in Baltimore to be rebuild and reinvested still exists in spades. I think organizations need to adapt their business strategies to lessen their affect on communities. Instead of simply buying up homes for profit corporate entrepreneurs have to be mindful and serve the community they hope to profit from.
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ReplyDeleteAngelo,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very smart way to invest and rebuild any area. It is neat that you were able to conduct your interviews while visiting home, in Maryland. What would be your first step in having organizations adapt their ideas? It seems that this could be difficult if you have some big wigs that are stuck in their ways. I think you are certainly right that entrepreneurs should be mindful of the communities. Great idea, Angelo!
My post: http://14blogisa.blogspot.com/2016/05/forming-opportunity-belief.html
Angelo,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated that you identified an opportunity belief in another community beyond our local area. While the economic hardship rocked the housing market nationally, hearing the perspectives of those in the Baltimore community enabled me to connect more directly with the issues at hand, rather than observing it for fact as an outsider unaffected by the market crash. This opportunity has never been obvious to me. After listening to your interviews regarding the rising rent, homelessness, expanded drug use and sale to change individual's realities, and the desisting of small businesses, I do believe there is quite the opportunity to better both the residents as well as the abandoned properties in hopes to refurbish and re-purpose the community. While this is a large endeavor, there is a large community that has been affected which you can empower towards reconstructive efforts to combat the societal and proprietorial distress. This was a wonderful investigation of unmet needs.
My post: http://elementalentrepreneur.blogspot.com/2016/05/forming-opportunity-belief.html
Angelo what an excellent post. However the issue I see with this is the abandoning of homes, don't you think that with these abandoned homes that they could possibly be a housing place for the homeless? I mean perhaps there could be a huge tax break for corporation owned homes so long as they housed the homeless? This is probably a far fetched idea. Excellent recognition of a prominent problem, instead of continuing to develop property they to focus on maintaining what is already developed to strengthen the value of community.
ReplyDeleteAngelo,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you were able to go to your hometown to do this post because it provides insight on what is happening outside of Florida. When it comes to buying houses and flipping them, it is so rare to find someone who will do it for anything other than making a profit. That being said, I agree with your conclusion of this opportunity still being unlikely. However, if they government stepped in and possibly bought these houses to restore them, then it could be used for the greater good. Again, it is probably not likely because everyone is always looking for profit. There is always the option of a developer restoring the property and then filing it for Section 8, which would somewhat have both ends meet in the middle.