After a major renovation costing about $100,000, a foreclosed house in the Carroll Park section of West Philadelphia is alive and ready to be sold. The renovation was made possible by the $20 million stimulus-funded Neighborhood Stabilization Program. David Bartelt, a Temple professor of geography and urban studies, said vacant and abandoned properties have a degrading effect on the value of nearby properties. The program, he said, might be able to prevent that. "It can help, but it's at such a relatively small scale compared to the volume of foreclosures going on," Bartelt said. "The hope is that you forestall the worst effects."