I took note of the amount the homeowner and city estimated it would cost to convert a double and I shook my head. Anyone who owns a 60+ year old home KNOWS that repairs and upgrades are not cheap. The work needed to convert a double would likely involve structural work, which is even more costly. Trust me, I've rehabbed and if I could do the amount of work they plan to do for less than $50,000, I'd be thrilled. Of course, my quality standards may be higher.
It is also important to note that one of the reasons people move out is for NEWER housing, and the reason they want newer is for the amenities found in more modern housing: better layouts, updated kitchens and baths, more energy efficiency because of updated mechanicals and insulated structures.
This is where I think the plan will fail. If you take a roughly 2400-3000 square foot double and convert it to a large single, thats a pretty large amount of square footage in an old house to heat and cool. No one will want a house that costs 800-1000 a month to heat and they certainly will demand air conditioning.
The only way the house will be attractive is if it has been made completely energy efficient, which means wall and roof insulation, new windows and doors, and high efficiency heating and cooling units. You cannot tell me that the cost estimates cited include this type of work.
Maybe a better plan would be this: rather than convert doubles to singles, I think that REPLACING doubles with singles would be more desireable. There are streets in Lakewood that have literally rows of very ordinary up and down doubles. Take four elderly units, tear them down, and either build four decent singles, or combine lots and build 2 larger homes on double lots.