. >> toepfer's organization focuses on revitalizing community spirit by providing basic maintenance and using decoratively painted panels to improve the appearance of empty homes like this one. they very from faux window passengers to bright art installations. >> hopefully it will encourage people to want to see that house in a different light and hopefully be able to save the home and be able to purchase it and rehab it with the various incentives that we have to offer. >> it's relatively cheap, too. the cost of injecting a little color into a place like this is about five or $600. a demolition could cost more than 10 times that. something to think about, consid considering that there are currently an stepped 18,000 vacant or abandoned homes and buildings in the city of chicago. some have been fast tracked for demolition because they fit on so-called safe passage routes used to shuttle chicago public school students to and from schools safely. not everyone thinks demolition is the best option. >> you can go through these blocks and all you see is xs on these vacant homes. whatever they