Though the concept of blight may be of use in the study of rural and small towns experiencing disinvestment and decline, it is term rarely used to describe rural housing and neighborhood conditions. In Breger’s (1967) foundational work, blight is defined as “a critical stage in the functional or social depreciation of real property beyond which its existing condition or use is unacceptable to the community” (p. 372). Blight is largely considered an urban problem; the two terms are often used to form one concept – urban blight.
Urban and rural communities share some similar challenges when addressing physical neglect and dereliction. Eisenberg (2016) cites economic constraints, differing strategic views, unaccountable lenders, local politics, displacement, property title issues and the difficulty in locating property owners as issues related to blight that are shared by rural and urban communities. However, rural blight is often viewed as different or less than urban blight problems due to lower densities and stereotypical beliefs about rural communities (Aubrun & Grady, 2003; Oakerson & Clifton, 2015; Vacant Property Research Network, 2015). Recognizing that blight is an issue for rural and small-town communities and the lack of research on this topic, we seek to explore the issue of rural blight using a study conducted among rural communities in a Southeastern state. This study is guided by the research question: 1) To what extent is blight an issue in rural and small-town communities in the Southeast?
The aim of this paper is to explore the aspects and extent of rural and small-town blight using survey results from elected officials and staff members of rural and small towns in one Southeastern state. We begin by with an examination of the concept of and previous research on blight, followed by a discussion of what is known about dimensions of blight in rural communities, particularly in rural and small towns. The findings suggest that physical blight, including dilapidated housing was prevalent for over half of the communities in the survey, while vacant housing and low housing values a prevalent problem for over one-third of the communities. Aspects of social blight and disorder were identified as a significant problem by fewer communities, with 15% of the communities identifying property crimes and drug and gang activity as a significant problem and 12% reporting that illegal dumping was significant problem. The preliminary findings also suggest a relationship between higher cumulative levels of blight and the extent to which residents perceive and/or complain that neighborhoods are unsafe.
