Blight is in the Eye of the Beholder

What is blight, and where can you find it in Lake Oswego?   Maybe the State of Oregon can help here.  Oregon Revised Statute Chapter 457 FAQ:

How does urban renewal work?
The Oregon Constitution allows the Legislature to set up a system to finance urban renewal. Oregon Revised Statute Chapter 457 describes how the system works. This law gives each city and county the ability to activate an urban renewal agency with power to propose and act on plans and projects to remove “blight.” Examples of blight include buildings that are unsafe or unfit for occupancy or the existence of inadequate streets. The area where the work is to be done is known as a “plan area.”

An urban renewal agency is activated when the city or county governing body declares by ordinance that a blighted area exists in the city or county and there is a need for an urban renewal agency to function in the area. The urban renewal agency proposes a plan for improving the area. Following public notice and hearing, and after considering public testimony and planning commission recommendations, the city or county may approve the urban renewal plan by ordinance. Unless required by local law, no public vote is necessary. 

Below os the definition of blight.  Where does downtown Lake Oswego or Lake Grove fit in with these definitions?  Blight, really?  By whose standards?  BTW - (h) is a standard that can be easily abused to include property that a segment of the government feels doesn't "fit" their plan.  There may be others, but the standards for blight should be objective and high to protect property rights and preserve a private market economy. In the second paragraph above, one qualification for an urban renewal area is need.  How well do cities distinguish between need and want?  Is what we want the same as what we need?  A Civic Center, Art Center, Trolley Station, brick-lined streets, new Parks...?  

Chapter 457 - Urban Renewal

      457.010 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:

      (1) “Blighted areas” means areas that, by reason of deterioration, faulty planning, inadequate or improper facilities, deleterious land use or the existence of unsafe structures, or any combination of these factors, are detrimental to the safety, health or welfare of the community. A blighted area is characterized by the existence of one or more of the following conditions:

      (a) The existence of buildings and structures, used or intended to be used for living, commercial, industrial or other purposes, or any combination of those uses, that are unfit or unsafe to occupy for those purposes because of any one or a combination of the following conditions:

      (A) Defective design and quality of physical construction;

      (B) Faulty interior arrangement and exterior spacing;

      (C) Overcrowding and a high density of population;

      (D) Inadequate provision for ventilation, light, sanitation, open spaces and recreation facilities; or

      (E) Obsolescence, deterioration, dilapidation, mixed character or shifting of uses;

      (b) An economic dislocation, deterioration or disuse of property resulting from faulty planning;

      (c) The division or subdivision and sale of property or lots of irregular form and shape and inadequate size or dimensions for property usefulness and development;

      (d) The laying out of property or lots in disregard of contours, drainage and other physical characteristics of the terrain and surrounding conditions;

      (e) The existence of inadequate streets and other rights of way, open spaces and utilities;

      (f) The existence of property or lots or other areas that are subject to inundation by water;

      (g) A prevalence of depreciated values, impaired investments and social and economic maladjustments to such an extent that the capacity to pay taxes is reduced and tax receipts are inadequate for the cost of public services rendered;

      (h) A growing or total lack of proper utilization of areas, resulting in a stagnant and unproductive condition of land potentially useful and valuable for contributing to the public health, safety and welfare; or

      (i) A loss of population and reduction of proper utilization of the area, resulting in its further deterioration and added costs to the taxpayer for the creation of new public facilities and services elsewhere.