Research - Abandoned....or Just Vacant?

In order to utilise the full potential of the site, I went and conducted research on the number and location of abandoned building.  However, I found it quite difficult and don’t have a very complete data unlike any other conditions I mapped.  Then I came across the article “Counting the Empty Buildings”, and it talks about the difficulties in verifying whether a building is ‘abandoned’ or ‘vacant’

"Often times, what looks like an abandoned building is not an abandoned building, they are buildings with vacant apartments above occupied stores."  Said Mark Alexander of Urban Builders Collaborative

The buildings are vacant mainly due to 2 reasons: conflict between multiple owners and result of the neighbourhood distress of the 1970s and 1980s. 

I think this piece of information changed my idea on the treatment of the areas around my site; instead of only focusing on abandoned building, I need to address the issues of vacant buildings.  How my design can benefit the surrounding surburbs and bring back people to the neightbourhood.

Reference
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120905/gowanus/dangerous-gowanus-buildings-plague-up-and-coming-block
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/BrokenPromises_JohnFekner.jpg
http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/development/3303-counting-the-empty-buildings