Joel Kurth wrote about why people in Detroit are hoping to attract squatters:

• When a community finds that a neighbour has left their house, they’ll seek to recruit a squatter to take their place.
• Not only do abandoned houses lead to lower neighbourhood property values, it’s possible that they could be burned down as arson has become a form of entertainment in crisis stricken Detroit.
• Another popular strategy is to place beehives on residential properties to dissuade troublemakers.
• Finding the right squatter is an art – you don’t want, for example, a drug dealer to move in. The best way to find a good squatter is to tap into the existing squatter network and find out if they know anybody looking for a house.

Read more here.

Source: The Detroit News

Via: Marginal Revolution