Thursday, June 4, 2015

A Collapse in La Candelaria



This scarred but colorful house on a cobblestone street above La Plaza del Chorro in La Candelaria collapsed the other day, something which seems to happen with a certain regularity here. The houses are neglected by their owners, perhaps because the rules for renovating historic homes are so strict that some owners find it cheaper and easier to just let them collapse instead. Other houses elong to absentee landlords, who just abandon them, or are caught up in legal disputes.

The result, however, always seems to be the same: the collapsed buildings stay that way for years. Why doesn't the government uses eminent domain laws to take over and repair them, or sell them off to someone who will do so?






By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

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