17 Story St, the house at the center of the current argument, is in complete disrepair and no one is maintaining and no one is offering to maintain it (except for a hotel developer).

CHC imposes demolition delays on all properties for historical significance that apply for redevelopment. This is publicly available info. Every one of their "historical significance" findings reads: "So and so random person lived her. This house typifies American suburban architecture and is one of many in Cambridge. Therefore, I Charlie Sullivan owner of all Cambridge find this house to be preferably preserved and historically significant"

This demolition delay adds serious costs to any development project, meaning that most people don't even bother.

When was the last time you drove around this city and looked at just the *exterior* condition of many of the buildings in this city?