Hidalgo cracks down on backyard rentals
July 15, 2007 - 10:07PM
HIDALGO — The poor who live there call them home.

The owners who rent them call them income.

The mayor calls them a disaster waiting to happen.

In and around the center of Hidalgo residents have built and rented out backyard dwellings for decades, providing those too poor or without the necessary immigration paperwork to rent a standard apartment with an affordable place to live.

But the structures’ often dilapidated appearance has caught the attention of city officials, who are trying to attract tourists and new residents through a series of redevelopment projects.

“A lot of these things, someone takes a storage shed and all of a sudden they turn it into a one-room apartment. There are wires running everywhere and sometimes no running water,â€