Following Monday’s entry, the theme of Urbandale shrinkage continues. Here is the end of the sidewalk on the east side of South Francis Avenue, the last block before the dead end. The sidewalk that until recently served the east side of the 700 block has all been dug up. There are no houses left on this side; the land is now an urban farm.

Looking over the property records, I can see that there were still five houses south of here in 2010. That year, four of the five seem to have taken the buyout from the city. That left one house on the very south end, which fell into tax foreclosure in 2016 and was demolished by the county in 2017.

The other side of the street, the west side, still has two houses left. I note that another house on that side took the buyout in 2010 along with their east side neighbors. It’s hard not to imagine a vulture standing there, waiting patiently for the two holdouts to succumb from death or taxes. I understand that the city has its reasons, and I don’t mean to attribute malice or wickedness. It’s just that there’s something very sad about looking at doomed houses. It’s just a matter of time. Sooner or later, there will be no 700-plus addresses on South Francis.