PENN HILLS, Pa. — A plan to tear down problem properties in Penn Hills is moving forward.
About a dozen structures, including a vacant home on Azalea Drive, that have been deemed unsafe or unsanitary are set to be demolished.
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Neighbors who live near Azalea Drive said they have wanted the house torn down for years out of concern for the safety of children in the area.
"We just want it taken down. Especially, I have a 5-year-old, so being outside you don't know what's down there," Kristen Edgar, who lives next to the vacant house, said.
Edgar was one of the people who met with city planners Monday morning about the demolition of vacant properties.
"We tear down the homes that are bad or might be in areas that are a high crime risk. We want to make sure that there is not a rise of criminal element due to vacant structure of blighted neighborhoods," Damian Butler-Buccilli, of the Penn Hills Planning and Economic Development, said.
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Edgar is happy that the vacant house she lives next to will be coming down.
"People breaking in, the animals, who knows what all could be in there," she said. "We're glad that, finally, this is one of the houses that will be taken down."
According to Butler-Buccilli, each year Penn Hills tears down about a dozen homes that have been vacant for several years. The money for demolition comes from the Penn Hills Community Development Block Grant.