There are nine or 10 wood frame houses on North Wall Street, just off of Madison Street. About two years ago they were refurbished and offered for sale as single family residences, but there were no buyers. Today they are badly deteriorated, neglected by their owners, the windows smashed by vandals and anything of value stripped by scavengers.

At least one has been broken into, but all are easily accessible as shelter to vagrants, a haven for criminal activity or as a dangerous playground for curious children.

They remain for sale, but as “investment property,” a cynical disclaimer meaning, we assume, that the fate of these derelicts will fall to the buyer — provided one can be found. Until such time the owners eschew any responsibility for maintaining and securing their property.

So while the city wages an ongoing campaign to identify, locate and prosecute owners of abandoned buildings, some hide in plain sight.