The abandoned homes of Detroit's Brightmoor neighborhood

The Brightmoor neighborhood in Detroit has been one of the hardest hit communities in the city. Built as an enclave for middle class auto workers, the neighborhood was hard hit by the economic downtown and foreclosure crisis. Scores of homes were abandoned, and Brightmoor became an epicenter for drug activity, arson and other crime, including illegal dumping.

But in the last year, community groups, including the Brightmoor Alliance and the Detroit Blight Authority, have launched efforts to clean up and revitalize the neighborhood. The DBA cleared 14 city blocks of debris last summer, including 70 empty homes and 300,000 pounds of other trash. And this spring, they will launch an even larger blight removal effort, targeting 35 blocks of blighted homes in Brightmoor. Until then, residents have sought to brighten up some empty homes with colorful murals—signs, they say, of better days to come. (Photographs by Holly Bailey/Yahoo News)